A Library of Ideas
by Thugs Bunny 009
Summary: Hey, ever think to yourself, 'Man. I can't think of an idea for a story, but I want to write one so badly' Then come on in to the Thugs Bunny store. He has a myriad of your anime needs from Naruto, to Bleach, to Ranma, to Ryoga, to fem Naruto and even the occasional Naruto/Bleach crossover, but of course I have them otherwise this wouldn't be in this section. Grab yourself a fic!
1. Naruto in Bleach

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Naruto. **

* * *

><p><strong>Rolling With the Gods! <strong>

**Chapter One **

**Cats Are To Be Loved!**

Five months felt like five years to the little bundle of joy now living in a highly advanced city. A city, such words felt foreign to the whiskered-faced boy. His own konoha-teammate really was a jerk for defecting from the village of Konohagakure no Sato all in search of power from the creepy snake-man Orochimaru.

How did the boy know it was Sasuke's fault for how things ended up the way they did?

He didn't know, but he'd be damned if he didn't pinpoint the blame onto the lone-wolf of the Uchiha-clan.

He felt it was his duty to bring him back home not just because he was tasked to by the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade-baachan, but also because he promised Sakura-chan he would from the very bottom of his heart. And the blond-ninja kid wasn't one to go back on the promises he made to others, especially to the girl he had been crushing on since he had first saw her in the academy.

Furthermore the kid with an unimaginable source of power sealed in his gut assured his pink haired crush that her black haired crush wouldn't ever rely on a creep like Orochimaru because he was a powerhouse all in his own right.

How wrong was he?

Not about the powerhouse-thing because Sasuke Uchiha was tough as nails, but about the reliance on the hickey-mark he seemingly received from said snake-man whom he was attempting to flee to at the time. The fox-boy never really got the details of how Sasuke had gotten his curse seal of heaven.

He was certainly shocked though, seeing the black-markings covering one half of Sasuke's body, giving his childhood friend a somewhat devilish aura around him as he ironically stood on the statue of Hashirama Senju, the Shodai Hokage while the fox-child stood atop of Madara Uchiha's statue, a traitorous shinobi whom fought against Hashirama Senju at the valley of the end where the boys fought to put an end to it all.

There was all that was divulged on Hashirama and Madara's battle at the valley of the end to the blond boy and Sasuke's knowledge.

If the fox-child thought Sasuke looked kind of devilish with the markings all over his body, then Sasuke transformed into the devil himself once he shifted the level of the curse mark from one to two, making two bat-like hands spout from his back and take up the form of two-wings. His usual pale complexion darkened, his teeth became canines, an X-mark was manifested around his nose-area, his finger-nails sharpened into claws, and his dark spiky hair brightened into light blue hair.

He looked truly evil.

The blond boy was speechless having never before witnessed such a transformation but was still optimistic and determined as ever to bring Sasuke back home.

That was where Sasuke belonged as a fellow member of Konoha's populace.

The fight had raged on all over the valley, and ended up where it had started, on the statues of Hashirama and Madara.

Only this time Naruto was standing atop of Hashirama's one with a red-cloak of chakra blazing around his body, his normally bright cerulean blue eyes were that of crimson red ones, his whisker-marks were thickened and resembled that of a tiger's whiskers, and his own finger-nails had become razor-sharpened fox-claws.

Both shinobis held their ultimate techniques in their hands and glared at each other with defiance. Streaks of red and purple were flowing through the air at the valley of the end to this very day the kid was sure as the boys leapfrogged at each other while roaring each other's names.

"_Naruto/Sasuke!"_

"_Chidori/Rasengan!"_

Simultaneous shouts of Rasengan and Chidori from Naruto and Sasuke was followed by the collision of their jutsus battling for dominance while the two were in the air. The magnitude of the teenagers' powers caused a spherical ball of black-purplish energy to shroud them and blow up, nuclear-bomb-style!

When Naruto woke up, he couldn't see Sasuke anywhere. In fact he could see neither the statues of the legendary shinobis of Madara and Hashirama anywhere either.

His face had astonishment painted all over it as he glanced at all the strange devices within an area he had never before heard of in his young life. Those big white-things with wings looked like a mechanical bird to Naruto, but passengers were boarding the 'bird'.

He tried to ask the people of this world where he was, but they all just gave him pitiful looks in return. They couldn't understand him despite looking somewhat like Naruto. At that moment dread was filling Naruto's heart as he frantically pulled his hair out with the folks glancing at him strangely.

But things soon looked up for Naruto once they got him someone that could speak his native tongue. She was a pretty 'Japanese' woman that Naruto thought was weird.

What was Japanese?

That was Naruto's thought.

He didn't know.

Still he was delighted when the lady got him some ramen, but understandably felt uncomfortable once she began asking him questions of where he came from and how he managed to wonder so far into the airport.

Naruto just gave the kind woman a shrug of his shoulders. He didn't have a clue. He told her that he was blindfolded upon arriving in the airport and the lady seemed to buy that to some extent.

Perhaps Naruto was raised in the jungle if he didn't even know what airplanes were.

After that Naruto was shipped off to Japan where he had spent the last five months living within a hostel and attending Karakura Middle School. His life had been okay, but that didn't mean he had given up hope of finding a way back to his own world. Naruto Uzumaki was not one to give up. One day, he would make his journey home.

…Because he made a promise to bring Sasuke back!

XxX

(Northern Japan – Karakura Town – Naruto)

The doors to the boy's five story hostel opened up, letting him come outside of it in a relaxed-manner while wearing an unzipped orange jacket that had the leaf symbol of Konoha embedded into the corner, something he had asked his care-worker to personally make him to show his (for) everlasting loyalty to Konoha.

Naruto still had the green gem necklace Tsunade-baachan had given him wrapped around his neck and a sack-bag on his shoulder.

A blue muscle t shirt was underneath Naruto's orange jacket that had a picture of Tom and Jerry printed on the front of it. It was something of a gift Naruto had received from one of the few friends he actually managed to make in this strange town. A pair of orange pants with two blue strips running down sides of it and a couple of his old blue sandals that miraculously survived his odd travel to this strange place completed Naruto's appearance.

Ah… So long orange jumpsuit.

Naruto would miss it truly, since it was tattered to pieces once he woke up to find himself in an American airport.

His blond hair was still as spiky as ever and both of his cheeks had three cat-like whisker marks on them.

"Ah! Another-day to try my luck of busting my way home! Ha-ha! I think I'm gonna get lucky this time too!" Naruto shouted with the sun-light penetrating his body, giving him a mesmerizing glow that came off as a golden aura instead.

Naruto began his walk toward the school he had enrolled into. He didn't have many friends at all. It seemed like no one could see the illusions Naruto was seeing from time to time. It would usually make him frown. Not only did he have to adjust to glancing at weird rectangle-sized devices with wheels at the bottom of them speeding past him on his saunter to school but he also had to adept to seeing ghosts!

Ghosts! That wasn't fair, because Naruto was terrified of ghosts. They could walk into his little room located in the hostel that he lived in and eat all of his instant ramen-cups! Not to mention the spook the supernatural beings could give him would be enough to cause him to get a heart attack and go into cardiac arrest!

The first time he had seen a ghost the blond had screamed and jolted down the street like someone had put a cap in his rear-end. He told the other kids at school what he had seen and nearly all of them just mocked and laughed at him, telling him that he needed to get his head sorted out, preferably by getting himself admitted into an asylum.

"…School here is just like the academy back in Konoha." Naruto sighed to himself, walking through an alleyway, and taking notice to the doors leading to the backyards of the inhabitations' houses. That was very interesting structure if one asked Naruto.

Back in Konoha one couldn't just walk out of their backyards and into the open world without jumping high up in the sky, but here most could casually saunter out of their gardens and onto the streets.

The blond kept looking around in a somewhat expectant manner.

"Meow."

"Ah. I knew you'd be here. How are ya doin' buddy?" Naruto smiled at the distinctive black golden eyed cat waving its paw at him in a friendly manner. As if cats could do that. Seriously, But it wasn't the first time Naruto had come across that little fur ball of mysteriousness.

Usually if one stumbled upon a black cat more than once it meant bad-luck had befallen them. So the old superstition said. Or it might have said something else. Honestly, Naruto had heard too much folklores to care what the meaning of them meant.

He felt this black cat gave him luck though, because when he had first met it two months ago after he arrived in Karakura Town a ramen-chief ran out of a nearby ramen-shop he had found when he first arrived in town but (he) didn't nearly have enough money to purchase his favourite treat and offered him a free bowl of delicious ramen of his choosing!

When he asked the man why he was doing this, the old man replied that a cute woman had come in and given him the money that covered Naruto's bowl of ramen.

Can someone say jackpot?! Finally, was the thought of Naruto. Someone nice enough had seen how roughed up his life was and offered him a helping hand in his time of need. And it was all because of that black cat.

Ironic really when one thought about it.

Naruto hated cats. To him, they were the devil's minions. It was such a bane of Naruto's when he along with Sakura and Sasuke had to chase that brown fur ball of stress and annoyance around the village when that fat-lady requested the hokage to find her missing cat. The old hag was just lucky that she was married to the Fire Daimyo (Fire Feudal Lord), otherwise the Hokage wouldn't assign any Konoha genin team to give chase to that damned cat.

But it's digressed now.

The busy woman whom paid for Naruto's ramen didn't even have the time to get Naruto's thanks as the old man had informed him she was in quite the rush.

He did try to make her stop, but once he turned around the woman seemed to vanish as if she wasn't even there in the first place. Strange, but Naruto had experienced weirder, like getting thrown in another world for instance.

"I dunno how you keep finding me." Naruto grinned, channelling his chakra to his feet and strolling up the wall to sit by the cat. He abruptly giggled as he patted the cat that purred as if it were approving of his use to come to it. His childlike-innocence adored every minute of seeing the cat's odd look the first time Naruto performed the tree-walking jutsu.

"If ya like that then you'll love my water-walking technique granny cat!" Naruto bragged, missing the hum that came from the cat and as well as the twitching eyebrow from it.

It was a young good looking cat! Not an old wrinkly one damn it!

"Man I'm like a messiah or something in this rectangle-shaped-boxes-speeding world!" Naruto continued to power up his haughtiness, all the while the cat kept on nodding as if it were really processing all of the info Naruto fed it.

Naruto gave the cat one last stroke which earned him a purr and a massage to his shoulder as the happy cat rubbed its head against his arm, "Man! Sometimes I believe you gotta mind of your own buddy," Naruto grinned, hopping off of the wall before getting the chance to see the smirk that crossed the cat's face.

Naruto waved at the fur-ball animal, "Bye, bye wise kitty cat!" After Naruto had sprinted off, the cat let out a laugh as it kept a firm eye and a lock on Naruto's position as if it were assigned to guard over the boy.

'You have no idea shrimp.' A thought of playfulness oddly was processed through the cat's head as it turned its head and glanced at a slowly moving shadow heading its way, revealing a silhouette that made the cat inwardly sigh in relief that Naruto had left before he had gotten to see it.

"Well I ought to get to work then. I don't want goldie locks with the whiskers on his face getting maimed now, do I?" The cryptic cat contemplated in a jesting manner as a blinding azure glow overtook its body, the silhouette and the cat vanishing within a second or a half as the glow that'd obscured the area died down.

XxX

(With Naruto)

"So long kid." A man at an ice cream stand waved goodbye to the fox-child as he rode away on foot with a pink treat in his hand with sprinkles, red sauce, and a chocolate flake on the side to complete it.

"It's like that cat's got the lucky number seven engraved into its body, or something. Every time I see it fortune seems to fall into my lap," Naruto said joyously, licking on a strawberry flavoured ice cream cone after finding some money five minutes after leaving the cat. A lord must've been fond of him.

As Naruto strode on the streets of Karakura Town with the vehicles he had come to know as cars speeding past him every so often, his eyes wondered around the tall buildings of the city. The first time he had seen them back in America where he had come from after getting blasted here, he was in awe at the overly massive rocks built to fit people in and to use it for leisured purposes, like homes, or for business ones like school.

He had never seen buildings so big. The ones in Konoha were smaller, yet more colourful than these ones. For the most part the ones he bared witness to nowadays had bland colours such as grey, like his school for instance.

Naruto frowned. His school-building should've been painted orange. That was a badass colour if one asked Naruto Uzumaki!

He did find himself happily fascinated with the speedy vehicles of this world. He could remember when he was travelling toward his hostel with his care-worker in a cab, hands planting on the window with his eyes scanning the elegance of Karakura Town in all his innocence.

It was night time the day he stepped foot onto his temporally home. The dazzling lights shrouding the city that night in its radiance mesmerized the lost boy all the more and amused the cab-driver and the nice lady that was his care-worker, as she worked in the hostel that was designed for orphaned youths, low-priced teenagers, delinquents, and recently released criminals.

They had a little laugh that night when Naruto asked could he drive the cab, and his care-worker told him when he was older he could take his driving test and become a driver.

Naruto pouted.

But at least it was something to look forward to, depending how long it took him to hunt for a way home.

Maybe life here weren't such a bad thing?

"Hey, American-boy?" But then again, it had its negative points. Particularly the gang of delinquent boys wearing the uniform of Karakura High School all standing before him with smirks on their faces, their shirts unbuttoned and not properly tucked in to let the world know they were indeed hoodlums.

"What's an American doing here in Japan anyway? What, come here ghost-busting?" The older boy mocked him, making a scowl appear on Naruto's face that got the accuser and his friends to laugh loudly at the blond's misfortune.

He beat up many kids in school for the sole reason that they ridiculed him for seeing ghosts like the children back in Konohagakure no Sato did due to the encouragement of their parents. Only this time he was strong enough to do something about it. Or it could be divulged to the fact that no kid in school used chakra or were super-powered in any way.

So they got humiliated by the strong ninja.

But some humans had siblings or other relatives they could call upon if a kid utterly outclassed and mopped the playground with them all!

And that was how Naruto found himself a new job, sweeping the pavements with older kids heading on a one way ticket to jail once they become of age, or hell if they were lucky, since jail could be considered an even worse torture period than living an eternality in the flames of the underworld!

Probably because some thought dying was easier than having to deal with the stress of life.

The suicide was blessed for some.

"Awww. Is the wannabe ninja gonna cry now?" Another older boy teased at the deadpanned Naruto.

"Gah, same old, same old, the daily routine never ends. I ought to get myself one of those uniforms the trash-men wear, since I seem to be finding myself taking out the garbage a lot." Naruto sighed, "Guess I'm just an up-standing citizen, right lads-? I mean rubbish." The kids snarled at Naruto, getting him to grin innocently as he threw his cream cone at one of them and watched feverishly as it connected with his face resoundingly, knocking him to the ground with a loud thud.

The others just stared on with open mouths and wide eyes to depict their shocks at seeing one of the members of their crew of twenty fifteen year old teenagers bulldozed to the ground by a mere cream cone. They already thought Naruto was a weirdo due to the fact that he called himself a badass ninja and had those marks that resembled a cat's whiskers on his face.

This just solidified their belief that Naruto was anything but normal.

And thus he must be bullied.

"Let's fuck him up!" They raged simultaneously, making the noise of an elephant stampede echo through the tunnel Naruto had walked under to get to school.

A blur shot upward from Naruto's position, his school-bag no longer on his shoulder.

Naruto cracked his knuckles, an eager grin engraving itself onto his face at the prospect of taking the trash to the dump yard, "Hey, maybe this job's not so bad." And maybe it was, since Naruto found that he over did it on the 'clean-up' part, which would often leave him running late for school.

Oh who cared!

He hated that place of education anyway.

Naruto bent down on his knee the moment the raging boys huddled around him and immediately began laying into him with wild kicks and punches with absolutely no style or flow to their blows whatsoever. Once the blond-boy rose up, left fist clenched and frozen upward as if he was saluting his surrogate grandmother, the hokage, the culprits were all blown upward while screaming in pain.

Naruto gracefully landed on his feet with his eyes closed and a goofy grin on his features. Damn it felt so cool to be the strongest kid around the block. It beat being knocked around like he used to be back when he lived in Konoha. Or still did since he _was _going to find a way home. And one could count on that.

…Dattebayo!

BOOM!

The usual detention group Naruto had given a one way ride to the sky had fallen onto the floor with hard crashes for all. The casual moan and twitches of the limbs were seen while some even cried 'I want my mommy/momma.'

"And that's the end of that chapter," Naruto dusted his hands off with a wide grin on his whisker-marked face. "Let that teach ya a lesson… that I'm not sure what it is yet." Naruto cupped his chin with a pensive look washing over his chubby (baby fat) face. He would've kept thinking what that lesson he taught the rude-boys was if he hadn't realized he had to be in class in the next five minutes.

A combination of waking up (on purpose), and stuffing his face full of instant ramen cups left him short of time to get to school.

"Wah! I gotta get myself to school! Ya know what, just don't bother me again, dattebayo!" Naruto concluded with a huff, making the downed boys moan excruciatingly. That was the lesson he was attempting to divulge from his mind anyway. How could they lose to such a simple-minded kid?

As if the gods were painting Naruto's undeveloped mind a thud landed onto his head that felt like a brick of sorts, as it immediately put him on guard. Flashing a kunai out of his hidden compartment within his new orange jacket, Naruto frantically shifted his head from side to side with a pout of annoyance on his face.

"Who's there?" Naruto asked demandingly, slowly lowering his guard once no one was brave enough to speak up, and question his sanity, "Whoever that was, just knock it off, okay?" Naruto put the kunai back into his jacket and bent down to lift his sack bag up after it landed onto his head and onto the ground.

The blond boy skipped off to school while humming happily, completely forgetting the fact that he had to be in class within the next five minutes.

XxX

(Karakura Middle School)

The quiet atmosphere of a classroom full of young kids ranging from age eleven to twelve year olds sitting by four rows of twenty desks was broken by the noise of a thunderous thump. All heads rotated themselves almost instinctually while the brown haired teacher sighed exasperatedly, as she was in the middle of calling out the names on the register she held in her hands.

One little girl smiled at the sight of the mini rascal while the other kids regarded him with indifference.

"Yay, Medachitagariya de Igaisei Nanbā Wan no Dotabata Ninja (The Show-Off, Number One Unpredictable, Noisy Ninja) Naruto Uzumaki is in da house!" The responses he got were a slight giggle from the aforementioned smiling girl while another one merely rolled her eyes at him and his childish behaviour. Their fellow classmates just stared at him strangely, "I'm right on the money, right obaa-san?"

The kids winced at the audacity of Naruto to call their teacher an old lady, even the two girls that had nothing against him let out a slight wince.

The bespectacled woman's eyes narrowed at Naruto before she whipped off her glasses and unfurled her long brown hair that was done up in a single bun with chopsticks in it. Her coffee brown hair flowed down to her upper back and emphasized her elegance. A radiant glow was around her tanned-skin and her attire consisted of a medium red blouse top, a long brown skirt falling to her ankles, black leggings, and black-high heels on her feet.

Her breasts were a modest size of CC-cup.

"Do I look _old _to you boy?" There was a hint of warning in her imprudent words.

"But you are ol-." Naruto attempted to defend himself, but a sharp glare from the no-tolerance woman silenced him with a gulp, "Hehe. Sorry, Tukiyo-sensei," Naruto apologised, rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"Apology accepted. Now go sit down." The now identified Tukiyo-sensei commanded, picking up her chopsticks she used as hairpins to retied her hair back into its usual bun. Naruto nodded, moving toward his seat with a white tail trailing behind him. The source of it was stuffed into Naruto's blue sandal. Tukiyo wouldn't have noticed it if it weren't for the fact Naruto didn't have his usual holder for his belongings with him on his shoulder.

"Naruto…"

Naruto stopped.

"Yeah Tukiyo-sensei?"

"Where's your school bag?"

"It's right on my shou-." Naruto started to confidently tell her it was right on his shoulder, only to stop when he realized it weren't there, "Aw man! I must've left it in the bathroom again!" Naruto panicked, spinning around to sprint into the bathroom before tripping over the toilet paper sticking out of his sandal.

"Who put this in there?" Naruto demanded, making the majority of the class laugh at the class-clown while the two girls and Tukiyo-sensei just sighed. Naruto was so clumsy, and forgettable it was untrue.

After Naruto had retrieved his bag from the bathroom, he strode into the classroom while taking in a breath of relief. Tukiyo gave him a chiding look that said 'Are you done with your antics, young Uzumaki-san'. This'd Naruto grinning bashfully before he jogged on over to his desk.

Naruto tucked himself into his desk like a good little boy and breathed in and out in something of a leisured manner. A curious expression found its way to Naruto's face once he felt a tug on his sleeve, making him look over to the side to see the girl that had giggled innocently when he first showed up in class and made a clown out of himself.

It was just like he always did.

"Are you okay, Naru-kun? You're not hurt are you after that fall?" The girl fretted over Naruto. Her short brown hair that reached just past her shoulders was so light it could be considered dark blonde. A bang of her hair covered the right side of her pretty face with a strawberry-style hairclip on the left side of her face just above her ear. Her brown eyes filled with innocence crinkled with a bit of concern for Naruto's wellbeing.

She wore a green hooded dress that reached past her knees with a big yellow button on it and a pair of shoes was on her feet. She had a black handbag which she used as a makeshift schoolbag.

"Of course I am Yuzu-chan! Notta rubbish too stinky to be left around is gonna keep me stalled for long! Haha!" Naruto declared boisterously, grinning like a loon. His dearest friend to date frowned at his words. In short she'd known him since he first enrolled in school. She took pity on him when the other kids ridiculed him during and after the days of his declaration that he could see dead people.

Naruto was to be eternally known as Ghost-boy, given to him for his insane antics three months ago.

Naruto did cheer up instantaneously when Yuzu told him that she and her family could see spirits and Karin confirmed that fact also. Well in Yuzu's case she could only just barely see ghosts, but see them nonetheless. Yuzu wholeheartedly informed Naruto of her decision to divulge her weirdly foresight to witness the spirits of the otherworld slightly to their classmates, and Karin stood by her sister, and was also more willing to attempt to clear up Naruto's 'insanity'. But the boy was stubborn, telling the twins that he didn't want them to be shunned among their peels like he was.

His sense of honour was quite high even if he did have himself a little cry once he thought the girls weren't looking.

When did he become so noble huh?

He missed the slight tinge of pink that shrouded Yuzu's face as the girl really liked how noble he was, especially considering the fact that she had neglected to realize the consequences of letting their classmates know that she could see ghosts in blurry fashion.

Yuzu had friends. She certainly wouldn't want to lose them.

Although she did suppressed the urge to sigh 'oh Naru-kun' since his loud shout brought the kids' attentions onto them and the chiding stare of Tukiyo-sensei as the brunette kept her hands firmly on her hour-glass figure.

"Keep it until after class you two." Tukiyo sternly commanded.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself, ya know," Naruto chuckled slightly, finding it relaxing to massage the back of his head that got Tukiyo to sigh, Yuzu to smile, and Karin to smirk.

Does the cat-faced boy ever feel down?

XxX

(Some ways away from Karakura Middle School)

"MWHAHAHAHA!" A gorgeous girl feigned a maniacal laugh in cheery fashion with her arms crossed over her chest in an X-shape. Her long orange burnt hair fell to her upper back with two blue hairpins on either side of her face. She wore a white dress shirt with a red ribbon bowtie around her neck. A grey short skirt fell to her knees with white socks stretching up to her knees, and a pair of brown shoes completed her appearance.

Her hips were curvaceous, very womanly for a girl of only fifteen years of age. And her breasts were FF-cup, publicity was blessed for some. In all her elegance the girl opened up her dark eyes to reveal the happiness just over-flooding them to depict her chirpiness to the world.

It didn't fade upon seeing the somewhat disturbed look of her fellow orange haired classmate a bit.

"C'mon Ichigo, don't you know what this is!" The orange haired beauty laughed in mocked malice. For a highly intelligent girl whom scored the second highest on the school exams, she could sometimes be a bit of a ditz.

"Uhh. Spirit Hunter," The orange spiky haired boy guessed, straightening up and tucking his hands into his pockets. He was a tall boy with a very well built body, not too muscular but not too skinny either. A pair of blue headphones were around his neck while he wore a white dress shirt tucked into his grey school trousers, only he didn't have on the school bowtie and opted to leave the first three buttons of his shirt undone. A couple of black shoes were on his feet and a bag was over his shoulder, looking like the ones where some people carried their laptops in.

The girl clapped her hands together, "Yeah! Isn't that show just the bested show ever?" Her arms went gracefully up in the air, "C'mon then Ichigo, join in with me." She proceeded to chant the annual laugh of the show before finding her arms ensnared by two equally feminine hands, but still had quite a solid grip on her.

"Hey!"

The young girl looked to her left at the sound of her best friend's voice to see her black spiky hair and onyx coloured eyes staring at her. She wore the same uniform as Orihime with the only difference being in the girls' breast size. Publicity wasn't blessed to all now. The black haired girl's ones wasn't nearly as big as orange haired beauty's ones, and her body wasn't nearly as shaped in an elegant manner as the orange haired girl's, but she was cute and pretty in her all own fearsome glory.

"Oh, hey, Tatsuki-chan, what's up?" The orange haired girl asked gently.

"Come on Orihime, move it." The now identified Tatsuki ordered to the now known Orihime as she began easing her best friend in the direction of their seats, "You can 'mwhahahaha' with me." Orihime visibly winced as she wanted to do that with Ichigo.

Ichigo Kurosaki watched them go off with a strange look on his face. He was slightly thankful to his long time childhood friend Tatsuki Arisawa was removing Orihime from his presence even if he didn't outright admit it. Orihime was okay, though Orihime and Ichigo weren't that close but occasionally seen each other around town from time to time since Tatsuki was good friends with both of them, but a long-time friend of Ichigo's.

They used to attend karate together. Tatsuki fondly reminisced the days where she used to lay Ichigo down for the count and the orange haired boy would cry his eyes out until his beautiful mother would come to pick him up, making him stop bawling just at the graceful appearance of her.

Ichigo used to be a goofy, happy boy back then… six years ago.

But ever since _that _day, the boy was happy no more… He was a shell of his former self. Nowadays whenever Tatsuki would see Ichigo, he'd always appear nonchalant as if he was never going to die and had fully accepted the fact that all of his family members would die before him with him living for an eternity.

A few random bursts of anger would occasionally come from Ichigo to let Tatsuki know he was still human to an extent in the form of a cranky expression on his face.

"Yo Ichigo," Ichigo turned an uninterested eye onto the one that had called him to see three of his school friends. They all had their arms crossed over their chests while two of them did the annual malevolent laugh in cheery fashion. The tallest one's face was frozen on impassive mode, "Keigo here."

"And Mizuiro."

The tallest one merely hummed.

Ichigo sighed with a twitching eyebrow at the three of them. The one in the middle was so tall that even Ichigo, (who wasn't short by any means), came just past his shoulder. His skin was dark tanned and very masculine, making him look like a twenty five year old man instead of the fifteen year old boy that he was. He had a gold chain wrapped around his neck given to him by his grandpa whom convinced him that he shouldn't use his fists for fighting but to protect the ones closest to him. His white dress shirt was also unbuttoned like Ichigo's, and tucked into his grey pants with a pair of black shoes finishing off his appearance.

The hulking boy was Yasutora Sado, but he was given the nickname 'Chad' by his good friend Ichigo.

Chad was born in Japan but taken to Mexico by his parents at a young age. After their deaths, Chad was adopted by Oscar Joaquín de la Rosa, a man believed to be Chad's grandfather since Chad referred to him as grandpa but in Mexican. Oscar's attempts to turn the once violent youth into a somewhat decent boy were futile until a certain day.

The kids Chad beat up out of anger because they miffed him in some way told their fathers and they came looking for Chad to punish the boy for knocking out their children. Oscar came between the fathers and Chad and took the beating for his grandson. That was the stroke of inspirational for Chad to change his ways and become a decent person.

The chain around Chad's neck was a memento given to him by his now deceased grandpa.

After Oscar's death, Chad moved back to Japan and enrolled into Karakura High School.

He met Ichigo once he found the boy being attacked by thugs. He stoically took their punches and they fled out of fear. The same thugs came back for Chad and managed to subdue him by smashing a brick into his head. They dragged Chad underneath a bridge before tying him to a chair.

Luckily for Chad, Ichigo showed up and battered the thugs after they had taken Chad's medallion. Ichigo handed the medallion back to Chad and told him that they should stick together and have each other's backs. Chad agreed and ever since then the two had the closest thing to a best friend in one another.

A brother-in-arms sort of thing, sometimes people had to stick together.

The hyperactive boy with brown hair and dark eyes wearing the school uniform except he had a tie around his neck and his shirt not tucked into his trousers along with the black haired boy with green eyes and black hair with a strand of his hair falling between his eyes also wearing the school uniform like his dear friend Keigo, Mizuiro, met Chad and Ichigo when the powerful tall lads protected them from a couple of bullies.

"I'm not going." Ichigo deadpanned.

"What? Whaddya mean you're not going?" Keigo gasped exaggeratingly, "It's the best TV show in Japan dude. And it's gonna be broadcasted right here in Karakura Town! You gotta go! You'd have to be dead to miss it dude!"

"Guess that makes me a living zombie then." The smart-mouthed orange haired man groused crudely, "Now get lost." He made the shooing motion to Keigo.

Keigo recoiled with fake tears in his eyes, "But I already went to the trouble of asking Rukia to go." He squeaked, pointing to the petite black haired girl holding the edges of her short skirt in a pleasant manner, causing Ichigo to sweat drop at her feigned mannerisms.

"Hi Ichigo," Rukia greeted brightly, no one but Ichigo knew she was a woman centuries of years old. Her black hair fell to her shoulders with a strand of her hair hanging between her eyes and her purple tinged orbs danced with pleasant mirth at the boy whom she surrendered her powers to so he could rescue his family. She played the part of innocent school girl well wearing the Karakura High School uniform for girls and all.

Keigo strode over to Rukia with his arms shaped over his chest in an X-shape, "You know you wanna do it Rukia. 'Mwhahahahaha'."

"No." Rukia replied as if she were a princess, placing her hand on her cheek and feigning a blush on her cheeks, "I'll be too embarrassed to do it."

"Come on Rukia. It's not hard. I'll show you!" Keigo insisted and proceeded to laugh loudly while Rukia swayed her hips from side to side as she cutely shook her head.

Ichigo watched with a deep scowl of annoyance and a twitching eyebrow on his features, 'Geez. She's become quite the little actress.' She had the whole class thinking she was this innocent transfer student when in reality she was a shinigami who came from a place rich of spirits and gods known as the Soul Society.

Ichigo knew this well since the woman snuck into his home around four months ago looking for a hollow. He booted her in the rear-end thinking that she was a burglar. She was surprised that he could see her, and Ichigo thought that she was crazy until his father ran into the room and told him to be quiet.

Ichigo hammered his father into his stomach and shouted right back at him that he should be quiet. Isshin only gave his son a blank stare in return when Ichigo pointed at Rukia. He couldn't see her. Ichigo was shocked at that and Rukia went on to explain that normal humans couldn't see spirits, but humans with high amounts of reiryoku could, like Ichigo for instance.

She briefed him on her duties as a shinigami with her horrendous drawings. They were so terrible they looked more like bunny rabbits rather than scary monsters known as hollows that had white masks on their faces and went around stalking the streets of the world of the living looking for snacks (humans) to fill the holes in their chests where their hearts used to be.

Their inconvenient get together was cut short when they heard a primal roar followed by the sounds of a bulldozer crashing into someone's house and a bloodcurdling scream. It didn't take long before Ichigo's sister, Yuzu, tremblingly walked into his room and informed him that something had Karin and how he must run to safety.

Ichigo wasn't going to do that and didn't.

Not when his family was in danger.

After overpowering Rukia's kido spell, leaving the small lady in shock how a human could bust out of her spell like it was nothing; Ichigo grabbed a baseball bat and heroically charged downstairs like a man on a mission.

At first, he was furious when he noticed the huge hole in his home, but then he was overcome by fear at the cause of it. It was sort of like looking at a mixture of a blackish ogre fused with a demon with a milky white mask covering its face with a hole in its chest where its heart should've been.

Its eyes were like two black voids with two sun yellow colours within them.

Then that fear was crushed and replaced by sheer determination when he seen his sister Karin in the creature's hand. He ran in front of it and told it that it should eat him instead. The hollow greedily accepted the brave boy's offer and began to stalk Ichigo, ready to devour him.

Rukia rushed in front of Ichigo and blocked the hollow's attempt to devour him, causing it to drop Karin to which Ichigo caught her in his arms. Rukia berated him on his reckless actions, telling him the hollow would not stop absorbing souls even if it absorbed Ichigo's one into his being.

But the time was telling off was not upon them with the hollow still hungry, and needing to feast on some souls.

Rukia was hurt and could not cleanse the hollow.

Faced with the possibility of death or becoming one with the devilish hollow, Ichigo chose death or the inevitability of transforming himself into a powerful Death God when he shoved Rukia's Zanpakuto through his gut. He defeated the hollow effortlessly after emerging from a blinding light as a new man, no, _warrior. _

He was an ascended samurai.

He thought that was a dream since the next day neither Yuzu, Karin nor his father could remember the events that led to the hole in their home. They thought that a truck crashed through the house and miraculously left them alive.

It wasn't until Ichigo made it to school that day that he discovered it wasn't a dream and in all actuality Rukia had surrendered her powers to him that night and now she must rely on him to do her job, giving her enough time to regain her powers so she could return to the Soul Society.

That was four months ago. Ichigo had learnt a lot of what it meant to be a shinigami and made some… perverted comrades. He discovered that hollows were in reality earth bound spirits that held some resentment to a certain place in the world of the living and couldn't pass on, resulting in either their chains disappearing or hollows coming to them to fest on their souls, the end result was the same.

They would become hollows.

That happened to Orihime's older brother, bless him. Ichigo only recently figured out that the orange haired girl crying in his family clinic 4 or 3 years ago was her. Her hollow-transformed brother came back for her because according to Rukia, Hollows will go for the ones they loved the most when they were alive in a bid to fill the emptiness within their hearts.

Ichigo rescued Orihime and her brother that night by watching Orihime's brother, Sora, cleanse his own soul after the orange haired man had freed him from his possessed state by cracking his mask. That was the first time Ichigo realized he was actually helping hollows by hacking through their masks like a hot knife through butter.

He felt a sense of pride swell up inside of his chest and a heavy amount of responsibility fall onto his shoulders.

This was something he had to do. He just had to.

…Because if he didn't do it then no one else would.

xXx

(Two Hours Later)

Class had finished and Naruto had to stop behind to wait for Tukiyo, which got secretive whispers and small gossips from the other kids except for Karin and Yuzu. Most of them just concluded it to the fact that Naruto was a boy of many fights, and tardiness, there probably wasn't a day where he didn't get himself into a tussle before turning up late for school.

But it wasn't that.

No.

Naruto had brought along a cup of instant ramen and needed Tukiyo to take him to the teachers' lounge so he could get some boiling hot water from the kettle to make it. Despite her strictness with Naruto, Tukiyo really did adore Naruto, because round about four months ago, Tukiyo was in an abusive marriage. She kept coming into work trying to conceal her bruises by leaving her hair down and trying to put a smile on her beautiful face to hide her sadness.

But Naruto could see it was a fake smile since many times had the boy did the same thing. It was how he coped with the pain of loneliness knowing that barely a soul wanted anything to do with him back in the day, for something he did not ask for. The blond confronted Tukiyo after school-hours were over, and more or less demanded to know what was bugging her.

At first she was understandably miffed that a student was talking to her in such a way, until she caught a glimpse of sadness in his usual happy filled ocean blue eyes, and then the passion of his voice was heard by the woman as Naruto spoke how wrong it was that someone would put one's hands on her.

He was even more furious once she confessed that it was her husband and responded by flinging the woman over his shoulder, and charging through the door. It took a full thirty minutes of Tukiyo's screaming and sputtering to get Naruto to stop running around town like a headless chicken stupidly looking for a place he had no idea was at.

She would've taken him home but after the strength Naruto displayed in his little body by effortlessly carrying her around the city halted any rebuttal she might've had and she hopefully, but also begrudgingly, showed the boy to the home of her and her husband.

She wasn't disappointed upon seeing Naruto stomp her ex-husband a new one once he heard the first line that came out of the abusive man's mouth.

"_You stupid bitch, don't expect me to feed that kid." _Were the poor son of a bitch's words as Naruto turned him black and blue. And to the blond's credit he downplayed the significance of his own win after he threatened the man to never come near Tukiyo again. He never did as he didn't want neither his friends nor family finding out the fact he was taken to the cleaners by a small boy more than half his size.

Bullies were truly weak.

And Naruto had gotten himself a precious person.

That was why she had leniency with Naruto, and tried to do the best she could for him since he lived on his own.

Right now the boy contently hopped up the stairs to his favourite place in the whole school yard after leaving the teachers' lounge in a hurry, because Tukiyo told him that eating ramen all the time would stunt his growth and that he must eat horrible greens to grow a few inches. Who was she all of a sudden? His momma?

No.

She was the ramen-lady, enabling him to cook his instant ramen cups in the lounge for the senseis of the school.

Now Naruto could dig into the hot steamy ramen he was miraculously carrying with no hands as he had his hands stabbed into his pockets.

That didn't sound right.

"Wait just a minute." Naruto said pensively, opening the door to the rooftop upon reaching the top floor of the building, "Shouldn't I be holding my delicious ramen in my hand right now? Unless I've got lev-."

"Naru-kun!" Yuzu remarked brightly, pulling Naruto from his thoughts to see the girls sitting on their knees in the middle of the rooftop with their lunch boxes placed in front of them.

Naruto walked in, grinning widely, "Hi Yuzu-chan! Sup, Karin! Whatcha girls doin' here? Shouldn't you be down stairs with em girl-chums of yours?"

"Really, we still have to go through this every time we eat lunch with you?" Karin asked dryly, her dark eyes staring at Naruto, making him chortle. Karin Kurosaki was cool whereas Yuzu Kurosaki was a sweetheart. Naruto found it interesting that they were twins, but yet didn't look like each other and had different personalities. It made them unique to Naruto.

Karin's sarcasm and dry humour made him laugh unless her remarks were about him and his intelligence which usually put a smirk on the black haired girl's face seeing Naruto pout like a child. Yuzu's innocence was always win-win for Naruto, because he liked to be around nice people. The sweet ones like Yuzu kind of gave him a purpose as he felt like he had to protect the girl from anyone brave enough to bully her.

What Haku said about being needed really hit the nail on the head?

God bless _her_ soul.

"Don't be silly, Naru-kun. You're our chum too, ya know," Yuzu chirped.

"Yay, I guess so." Naruto laughed, walking forward to the girls to take his seat that made Yuzu raise her eyebrow.

"Guess you couldna waited until you made it up here to stuff your face full of noodles, eh Naruto," Karin remarked sardonically.

"What?" Naruto blinked. What was that her sarcasm? "I ain't eaten ramen yet." The deadpanned look from Karin and the sigh from Yuzu's mouth made Naruto widen his eyes as he grabbed his hair, "Damn it! I left it in the lounge again!" The golden haired retard stood up, and thunderously blasted through the door leading to the rooftops, getting bizarre looks from the two females at his almost unnatural display of pace before a loud crashing noise sounded out from the direction of the stairs.

"Ouchy," Naruto groaned.

"Oh no, Naru-kun!" Yuzu gasped, "I hope he's not hurt." Yuzu went on as she prepared to stand up, and check on the 50th or something accident Naruto had had.

"Don't worry, Yuzu. He's fine." Karin assured her twin sister in calm indifference to which Yuzu gave her a bit of a tentative hum in return, "It's not the first time Naruto has fallen down the stairs, and it won't be the last time I am sure of it." Karin reminded her, making her settle down and sit back on her knees.

"I guess you're right. He gets hurt a lot like daddy does," Yuzu spoke, opening up her lunch box to take out her apple juice.

"It's why the old man and Naruto get along so well." Karin said nonchalantly, receiving a nod and a hum from Yuzu who pried open her apple juice by sticking the straw into it and taking a sip from it. Isshin Kurosaki and Naruto Uzumaki got along swimmingly well when the old man would come around to his place to collect Yuzu who more often than not found herself at the home of Naruto to tend to the boy's needs like making him some food or bringing him some if there was enough left-over from the dinner she'd prepared for herself, her sister, her brother, and her father.

Yuzu did a lot for the boy whose incompetence was so high it even made Isshin feel pity for him. Naruto clearly hadn't had any parents during his childhood years, even if he didn't outright confess such; it was too obvious not to know. He had no manners and lacked the skills necessary for taking care of himself, such as cooking skills, cleaning skills, and how to pay his own bills.

You name it Naruto lacked it.

Naruto was the definition of an orphaned child.

Of course there was a little heated blood when Isshin first met Naruto, as overprotective father mode blazed powerfully around Isshin's body, but he quickly seen the boy's naivety, and instantaneously encouraged Yuzu and Naruto's friendship to stay strong.

Simple-minded boys like Naruto shouldn't be left on their own to fend for themselves.

He might burn down the hostel he lived in if he was left alone.

"You think onii-chan would like Naru-kun?" Yuzu asked. Ichigo more or less blanked his little sister every time she brought Naruto up to him. He would tell her it was nice that she'd friends to care for in a lackadaisical voice and stroll past her, leaving Yuzu pouting at her older brother's lack of interest in her social life.

Karin offered her twin sister a shrug of her shoulders, "Meh. Probably, you never know with Ichi-nii."

"Why don't we introduce them?" Yuzu suggested with a smile on her face.

"How?" Karin asked before thinking pensively, "You're thinking of bringing Naruto to that Spirit Hunter festival aren't you?"

"Yep!" Yuzu chirped before crossing her arms over her chest and laughing in good spirits, "I think Naru-kun would like it. He's not a stuck in the mud like you or onii-chan." Yuzu pouted in a good-natured manner at her twin sister Karin, making Karin roll her eyes.

"Or he might think it's a waste of time since he can see spirits perfectly well." Karin said, a bored look on her face while Yuzu puffed her left cheek out cutely.

"Well I guess there's only one way to find out then." Yuzu smiled optimistically, making Karin sigh. Why did Yuzu and Isshin have to like that cheesy event of some man claiming to see spirits? It was so lame to Karin and Ichigo it was untrue. Worse of all Isshin was going to drag her along for the ride and maybe Ichigo if he could.

"That would be your best bet I suppose." Karin mumbled and Yuzu nodded in agreement with Karin.

XxX

(With Naruto)

*Ping*

The speedster ran into the teachers' lounge to see the patiently waiting form of his teacher standing by the microwave while tapping her foot on the ground and looking at her watch.

"You remembered to come back for your food in two minutes this time." Tukiyo said and Naruto chuckled sheepishly, pushing his index fingers together.

"You know me well Tukiyo-sensei!" Naruto chirped while Tukiyo took his ramen from the microwave after reheating Naruto's instant ramen as it got a little cold after being left on the side by Naruto who was in rush to get away from her.

"Just like I know how you don't like anything green." Tukiyo confirmed matter-of-factly, making Naruto wince as a look of dread came over his face, "…How do you expect to grow if you don't eat your greens young man." She sighed, walking over to Naruto to hand him his ramen-cup which he gratefully took from her grasp.

"C'mon obaa-san, I'm not that short!" Naruto frowned, causing Tukiyo to cringe at the nickname.

"Tell you what if you stop calling me that I'll stop pestering you about eating ramen." The forty-five year old woman offered.

"DEAL!" Naruto agreed cheerfully, pivoting on his heels, "And I won't tell the others your true age of forty-five either Tukiyo-sensei!" Naruto assured her loudly, receiving an angry shake of the fist from his teacher who had flames emitting around her form that made Naruto scream as he paced out of the lounge while being mindful not to spill any of his hot steamy broth.

"He'll be back." Tukiyo stated with her arms crossed over her chest. "In one, two, three, four,-" She cut herself off as the blond's feet were quietly heard coming toward her direction before Naruto smiled sheepishly at her.

"…Uhhh. I left my chopsticks here." The forgetful boy told her.

The woman shook her head with a smile on her face as she reached to the side of the microwave and picked up a pair of chopsticks before dropping them in Naruto's ramen cup, "Try to be more aware of your surroundings, Naruto-san."

"You bet boss lady!" Naruto grinned toothily at her before walking out of the lounge with his mind already having forgotten why he stormed out in the first place. Good grief, it was of no wonder why he was so forgiving. He couldn't remember a damn thing. But despite all that Tukiyo was still fond of him.

"Naruto-san's a good boy…"

XxX

The boy made his way upstairs and onto the rooftop once again where he found his two lady friends still sitting on their knees waiting for him to arrive.

"Hey, how is it going you two? What brings ya here? Watching the clouds or something?" Naruto asked. Karin's stare of dryness reminded him what they were doing on the rooftop, "…Oh yeah. Never mind then. Hahahahahaha." Naruto chortled as he sat in between Yuzu and Karin.

"Good grief, you're so forgetful. You'll probably forget your own marriage or leave your wife at the airport if you ever get one." Karin said, opening her lunch box to eat her lunch now that Naruto was here to eat his.

A confused expression was on Naruto's face, "I have a wife?" He turned his head to look at Karin who recoiled in suppressed fury.

"Why are you looking at me for, idiot?!" Karin shouted and Naruto chuckled while a cringle of jealousy hit Yuzu's heart, but she didn't understand it. She just thought that Naruto should realistically think she was his wife as she logically done a lot for him that Naruto took for granted as he was too oblivious to see the importance of Yuzu's work for him.

"Haha! You're funny, Karin!" Naruto giggled before he settled down to dig into his ramen.

"Funny, or are you just insane whack-job?" Karin groused and got a nudge in her arm from Yuzu. Naruto missed the glare from Karin aimed at Yuzu as he contently started slurping his noodles.

"Oh, yeah, have you ever heard of a show called Spirit Hunter before Naru-kun?" Yuzu asked excitedly, receiving a groan from Karin that she ignored as Naruto turned his head to her with noodles trailing from his mouth. She abruptly giggled. He looked so adorable when he was eating.

Naruto tried to speak but his words came out muffled.

"Swallow before you speak Naruto." Karin told him and Naruto did just that.

"I was trying to say that sounds pretty cool. Do they like send spirits to heaven or something?" Naruto asked after taking in a huge breath of air.

"Yes, Naru-kun!" Yuzu confirmed enthusiastically, "Don-Kanonji defends the people by sending the spirits over to the other side. Isn't that amazing?"

"Badass!" Naruto cheered alongside Yuzu while Karin watched the two like they had grown second heads.

"My onii-chan will be there too. It'll be the perfect time for you to meet him." Yuzu smiled.

Naruto cupped his chin, "Oh yeah. You told me about that guy. How is he anyway? You girls didn't come into school last week." Yuzu had a sad look on her face.

"Yeah. Onii-chan's doing alright. Though, sometimes he can be a bit aloof." Yuzu said with Naruto hearing the sadness in her voice.

"Is everything okay? Does it have something to do with why you girls weren't here last week?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Oh it's nothing Naru-kun." Yuzu tried to brush it off with a forced smile on her face but Naruto was not to be fooled. He didn't pry into the matter anymore than that since it wasn't any of his business to know, "Anyway, Spirit Hunter will be performing right here in Karakura Town tonight. So Karin-chan and I figured you might want to come along and meet Ichigo-oniichan."

Naruto smiled hugely, "Alrighty! Sure! I'll come with you two and meet this strawberry-guy!" Karin cringed at that. Ichigo would kill him if he heard the boy calling him by the meaning of his name instead of his actual name.

"Wonderful!" Yuzu clapped her hands together, "I'm positive that you'll enjoy Spirit Hunter as much as daddy and myself do, Naru-kun." Naruto nodded and looked at Karin to see if she liked Spirit Hunter and she merely waved her hand dismissively that told Naruto not to ask. Naruto obliged and the three ate their lunches peacefully.

XxX

(Karakura High School – Rooftop – Ichigo – Chad – Keigo – Mizuiro – Rukia - Tatsuki - Orihime)

"Achoo!"

The friends of Ichigo turned to him as he sneezed absently while they all were enjoying their lunches on the rooftop of Karakura High School.

"Bless you Kurosaki-kun." Orihime said helpfully, making Ichigo grunt.

"Yeah. Thanks." Ichigo thanked her languidly, getting a smile from her as she resumed eating her lunch as normal while Ichigo attempted to divulge why he had the urge to stomp on a fishcake. 'Weird. I feel like I never want to so much as see another fishcake again.' It was probably just his instincts since he hated fishcakes anyway, 'Yeah. That's probably it.'

Little did Ichigo know he would be meeting a certain rowdy fishcake very soon.


	2. Ranma Moves On

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma.**

**AkanexRyoga pairing, anyone?**

* * *

><p><strong>Spread Your Wings and Fly Away<strong>

**Chapter one**

**Life Goes On**

"Ah. Another day, another penny earned I guess," Dryly grumbled a petite red-headed girl as she lazily sauntered away from a bar filled with enough perverted drunken men to fill a football stadium, each one of them lecherously whistling, and lasciviously peering at the retreating form of the red haired girl, "Geez. I'm so lucky, I apparently got myself my own fan-base."

The blue eyed, pigtailed girl let out a sigh, shouldering a brown sack bag over her shoulder and proceeding to waltz on home with a small chip on her shoulder. She sported a red silk Chinese-esque shirt, black baggy pants, and Chinese shoes on her feet.

The young girl's figure was womanly, her breasts were developing at much faster rate than most girls, a modest size of D-cup. She had baby blue coloured eye-liner around her eyes despite not coming off as the most feminine of girls.

Yes, Ranma Saotome was not what one would call the girlish of girls, since she... he wasn't born a girl, but a boy. Damn pops. He just had to force him to China where the two ignorantly treaded on the sacred grounds of the cursed springs, foolishly leaping on a couple of poles and seeing who could knock the other one into one of the springs first.

Of course if they had known the springs were cursed with the poor souls of which had drowned in them than Ranma and his father probably wouldn't have risked engaging in such a dangerous, but somewhat thrilling sparring match.

Such was Ranma's luck.

"Aiyaa!"

Ranma defensively raised her foot the moment a bike came dangerously close to landing on her face, easily stopping the wheel of the bike from smashing into her face and sending it and a bubbly blue haired girl crashing to the ground.

"Ow!" Ranma's impassive gaze shifted to a young girl of her age. Her blue hair fell to her back. Two strands of her hair framed her cheeks, two hair-buns was styled on top of her hair, her complexion was light, and her eyes were a light shade of purple. She sported a darkish pink Chinese shirt with matching trousers, and a pair of sandals on her feet.

"Shampoo," Ranma groused, her steely blue eyes locked on the form of the bubbly girl now known as Shampoo, rubbing her backside and making sure the package she had in her basket propped on the front of her bike wasn't damaged in anyway.

"Aiyaa! Ranma!" Shampoo said bubbly, looking up at girl-Ranma with two big purple lovey-dovey eyes, "You go out with Shampoo. Yes?"

Ranma couldn't help but roll her eyes. Damn Pops. Yet another consequence of going to China aside from getting cursed was having stumbled across an village inhabited by a tribe of females known as the Amazons, Shampoo being one of them.

Naturally at the time both Ranma and her father were in their cursed forms when they were led to the Amazon village by the guy who worked at the cursed springs of many drowned souls, people and animals alike. The two were frustrated having only recently been cursed, and naturally, frustration soon turned to hunger and Ranma and her animal-father found themselves digging into the first meal their eyes lay upon.

Unfortunately for them that particular meal just happened to be the prize in the tournament Shampoo was completing in at the time. Ranma-chan figured if she could defeat Shampoo, thus officially earning the grand feast for herself and her Pops than there wouldn't be a problem. How wrong her judgement turned out to be? Goddamn it…

After effortlessly seeing off Shampoo, the prideful Amazon-warrior planted the kiss of death on girl Ranma's lips, Mafia-esque, vowing by Amazon-law she'd track down Ranma, and kill her one way or the other, only doing a complete 360 upon finding out the truth – Ranma was actually a boy, the person of which had defeated Shampoo had only been in his cursed form.

Ah now that threw things for a loop, and Ranma wasn't sure if she (he) had preferred being targeted like she'd a freaking bounty on her head or persuaded like she (he) was a carnival prize. God damn Amazon-law. If a girl subdued an Amazon girl then that Amazon-warrior would have no choice but to hunt her down and murder her victorious opponent. However, if a male stood tall in a winning fashion over a Amazon-warrior than that male was to be wedded to the one who he'd defeated.

Annoying.

Just another fiancée Ranma would have to pry off of himself, which was made especially hard by Shampoo's grandmother, Cologne. The old ghoul had made audacious attempts to force Ranma to marry Shampoo, and help her keep the Amazon-tribe going strong by assisting Shampoo in the method of producing many babies. The old hag even went as far as to make girl Ranma's body _exponentially _sensitive to hot water by using the cat tongue on her so she couldn't turn back into a boy, and would hopefully lose the patience to be a girl longer, and would cave in and beg Cologne to be a boy again.

But anyone who knew the great Ranma Saotome-sama knew the big-cheese didn't give up without a fight. She won the right to be turned back into a guy by swallowing the phoenix pill she had required off of Cologne by pure determination and straight up doggedness.

"Hey, Shams," Ranma muttered distastefully, shaking her head as the Amazon-warrior picked herself up, propped the customer's order back in her basket, and sat on the seat of her bike, "Ain't you got anything better to do besides from stalking me like the paparazzi," Ranma quipped.

Shampoo tilted her head to the side in a cute manner, "Shampoo make delivery for great grandmother."

"Whoopee doo to you," Ranma grumbled.

"Then Shampoo come back to marry Ranma," Shampoo smiled in an optimistic fashion.

"I ain't marrying you Shams," Ranma groused in a dry manner.

"Why girl Ranma be mean to Shampoo?" Shampoo questioned, a pout of irritation evident on her features, "That mean old Akane be sauce (source) of Ranma's pain. No? She force Ranma's hand in marriage. Yes?"

"It ain't that Shams, and you and I both know it," Ranma griped. In truth Ranma hadn't spoken to Akane since Ranma had called off the engagement. A potential marriage filled with nothing but arguments was not a healthy one, and both Akane and Ranma knew that.

A marriage like that would've left both Akane and Ranma stressed and very much unhappy. The two martial artists knew that deep down in their heart of hearts. Even still it was hard Ranma to see her how hurt Akane had been by his refusal to go along with the engagement.

"Shampoo!" Ranma let out a sigh at the joyous cheer of a young boy, letting out a few snickers at the sight of a short-sighted boy galloping past him and Shampoo, and ensnaring a lamp post possessively, "Oh Shampoo, I'm happy you finally decided to return my affections!"

Ranma snickered at the fuming Shampoo, "That not Shampoo, you stupid Mousse!" Shampoo glared at her fellow Amazon-warrior now identified as Mousse.

"Huh?" Mousse let out in a dumbed manner, adjusting the round thick glasses on top of his forehead and pulling them down over his eyes, "Oh!" Mousse turned around, his eyes narrowing at the bane of his existence in the form of the red headed girl.

"Ranma how dare you! Even as a girl you still pursuit my precious Shampoo! You're sick Saotome!" Mousse's long black shoulder-length hair angrily swayed like a whip hitting a raging bull. His white diamond-patterned robe rattled as he raised his arm to reveal his fist hiding in his long sleeve. His blue pants shook as he used his black shoes to gallop his way to Ranma to deliver a dose of righteous fury.

Like a magician pulling stuff outta his hat, Mousse expertly whipped out a long solid steely gleaming weapon from his sleeve, spinning around like a propeller, the sharp edges of Mousse's weapon looking well and truly sharpened. So much so the blades on the end of Mousse's weapon sliced through Ranma, strangely leaving the top half of Ranma's body floating above the lower half of her body, the mid section of Ranma's body inexplicably disappeared.

"Huh?" Mousse wondered, a blur of red and black slowly fading out of his sight, "I… won?" He began to tear up, "I won! I defeated Saotome and freed Shampoo! Now she'll ju-." The air left Mousse's lungs, followed by drips of saliva and enough blood to fill up a cup; the cause of the boy's pain was a light skinned small fist wedged in his tummy, "W-what?"

"Jeez wiz Mr slowpoke, I've seen snails moving faster than you," Ranma quipped lackadaisically, purging her fist from Mousse's gut and allowing the boy to collapse onto his knees, glaring up at Ranma in defiance, "Didya really thunk I would just idly stand by and admire my nails while ya nail me eh?"

"Grrr." Mousse growled.

"You stupid Mousse!" Shampoo said harshly, causing both Ranma and Mousse to cringe with the latter also wincing from the object of his affections berating him in a icily cold manner, "You no beat Ranma, he too good for you! Mousse should just quit and go home!"

'Ouch, aim a little lower why don't ya,' Ranma remarked mentally.

'Oh Shampoo, why won't you return my affections I've held so dear for you?' Mousse mused pitifully, his mind replaying all of his attempts to win Shampoo's love which resulted in him being on the receiving end of a thrashing from his beloved Shampoo, "…Shampoo."

Shampoo turned away from Mousse, her arms crossed over her chest and a grimace on her beautiful features, "Bad Mousse! Shampoo no like you! Shampoo like Ranma!" The bespectacled boy's head lowered, letting out soft growls of frustration while Shampoo smiled pleasantly at the mention of Ranma, "You walk with Shampoo. Ran-?" Shampoo's question ended there; her eyes blinking at the vacant spot once preoccupied by the redhead.

"…Ranma disappear?"

XxX

Several blocks away, the redhead appeared in an immense dash of strong wind, standing highly on the roof of a tall four story high apartment complex, a pout of irritation evident on her features.

"Man ain't she got nuthin' better to do other than runnin' around chasin' me all day?!" Ranma wondered, kicking the air as if it would release her rage. This was one of the reasons why she'd called off the engagement to Akane – in the futile hopes it would end the blind, ignorant girls' trivial attempts of marrying her.

Apparently, it hadn't done the trick. No. It gave them renewed hope that they could somehow convince Ranma to marry them. Damn it. Life sucked, with a capital S!

A sigh escaped Ranma's lips, her feet pivoting her around and leading her to the door of the rooftop, "Lady lucky and I ain't on speaking terms," Ranma grumbled wittily, releasing another sigh while opening the door to the rooftop and venturing into the building. Perhaps a kickass movie and some popcorn could cheer her up.

XxX

"Now where am I?" A black haired boy wondered, glancing around his surrounding in clear confusion. He sported a V-neck dark yellow t shirt underneath a long-sleeved yellow jumper, a cheetah-esque striped dark yellow bandanna wrapped tightly around his head, black trousers, a backpack strapped on his back with a red thick umbrella sheathed across the straps of his bag, yellow wristbands, dark green trousers, and wooden sandals on his feet.

"Ohhhh. Why must my luck be so tainted?" The boy anguished, "And just when I had worked up a little courage to put my feelings in a letter for Akane-chan." The mention of the aforementioned girl made the boy's heart clench and he fisted his hand, "Oh Akane-chan, if only you knew how I felt about you, but-." He trailed off, a picture of a smirking black haired boy flashing through his mind, causing him to gnash his teeth in fury.

"_Saotome_!" He murmured forcefully, and unmercifully, "How dare you treat Akane-chan like she ain't a goddess! You don't deserve her!" After a moment, the boy felt the anger drain out of him, leaving a pitiful expression on his features, "Oh Akane-chan… If only, if only I had the courage to tell you how I feel," His eyes closed, his fist loosening, and his fingers falling freely.

"…But you'll never see me as anything more but your pet P-chan," He whispered, recalling all the times he'd been splashed and forcefully turned into his cursed form, only to get cuddled by the ignorant Akane. It made him sick to his stomach how he could use the beautiful, innocent girl's ignorance to his advantage, but he was desperate; desperate to be loved, desperate to feel the warm touch of a woman, desperate to see a caring woman smiling at him, and treating him like he was a god among men.

_Saotome_…!

It was all that ingrate's fault! If he never stole the lost boy's sandwiches, if he would stop tormenting the lost boy, stop teasing, stop belittling him in front of his dear Akane-chan, then maybe the lost boy could have his own happiness! His own happy life! One without seeing the annoying cheeky grin plastered on his rival's face as he flipped off of his head or fooled him into falling into water, thus activating his Jusenkyo curse!

It was all Ranma's fault!

"CURSE YOU SAOTOME!"

"Oh Ryoga-kun, how nice it is to see you?"

"Eep," The boy, Ryoga Hibiki, squeaked in surprise at the call of a sweet feminine voice. Turning around, Ryoga's eyes grew wide at the sight before him, 'I…I made it to the Tendo-Dojo,' Ryoga realized, an audible gasp escaping his lips. Well he did want to be here for one reason or the other, but he wasn't expecting to come so soon.

Sometimes Ryoga had to wonder was his directional curse really just that: a curse or a blessing?

The demure teenage girl became concerned at Ryoga's faraway look, "Is everything alright, Ryoga-kun?" Her long brown hair hung freely to her back, kept in a ponytail by a blue hair-scrunchy, her brown eyes peered into Ryoga's curiously, her loose baby blue coloured dress highlighted her light complexion, and her sandals picked up dust as she shifted in place; a small brown basket held in her hands.

Ryoga snapped out of his stupor, his hand reaching behind his head and massaging it in a sheepish manner, "O-oh… I, you know, just stopped by to see how Ranma was doing?" Now why on earth would he say that? Ryoga knew damn well he wasn't here to see that jerk Ranma. However he wasn't confident enough to admit he had a crush on the youngest Tendo daughter of Soun.

The well-mannered woman offered Ryoga a small smile, "Oh my, that's very thoughtful of you, Ryoga-kun, But I'm afraid-," Her smile faded out, a now sorrowful look masking her face and betraying her normally happy and docile demeanour, "Ranma-chan no longer lives here?"

"Huh?" A deer-in-the-headlights look appeared on Ryoga's features, his head dropping to the ground and his surprised expression giving way for one of contemplation, 'If Ranma no longer lives here, then maybe I've got a chance with Akane-chan!' Ryoga looked up again at the woman, now sporting a mask of resolution.

"What happened Kasumi-san? Why'd Ranma move out for? Isn't he engaged to Akane-chan?" Ryoga asked. Silently, secretly, he hoped the answer would be they wasn't engaged anymore, as much as he knew, deep down, it'd upset his dear and precious Akane-chan. The beautiful blue haired girl was a goddess to Ryoga, and Ryoga knew with confidence that she deserved better than Ranma. She ought to be with Ryoga!

The eldest sibling shook her head regretfully, "That poor thing, she hasn't left her room since Ranma-chan called off the engagement."

Ryoga was now gaping like a fish, "Ranma called off the engagement."

Kasumi nodded her head sadly, "Yes. Akane's very sad. Every-time she comes home from school she resigns herself to her room and doesn't leave for the remainder of the day."

Ryoga lowered his head, 'Akane.' He fisted his hands, 'Ranma you jerk! Can't you see you're hurting Akane-chan? Grrr. Why do you have to be so selfish?' Ryoga looked up, "I-is…" He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, "Is… is Akane-chan in her room now?"

Kasumi offered the lost-boy another smile, "Yes. I believe she's doing her homework. Poor thing, she still tries her hardest to study, and get good high grades in school." Kasumi smiled, shifting her hands, and causing the basket in her grip to wobble.

"Hehe." Ryoga laughed, 'That's my Akane-chan, always so brave, strong-willed, and beautiful-.' Ryoga shook his head, he had to stop thinking like that. Looking to change the subject, Ryoga saw the basket in Kasumi's grip, "What's in the basket Kasumi-san?"

Kasumi gasped as if she had completely forgotten about the object in her grip before smiling again at Ryoga, "Oh, just some things for Ranma-chan." Looking at the boy's clueless expression she decided to elaborate for him to comprehend, "Ranma-chan has gotten himself a little apartment. I thought I would bring him something to eat."

"Oh." Ryoga nodded in understanding.

"Would you like to come with me to Ranma-chan's place? I'm sure he'd really appreciate it." Kasumi offered gently.

"No, no, I have… stuff to do," Ryoga lied in a bashful manner.

Kasumi smiled, "Okay," she bowed slightly, "It was nice talking to you, Ryoga-kun."

"Yeah. Same here." Kasumi smiled one last time and made her way to Ranma's home, Ryoga waving at her as she did. Once she was out of sight Ryoga lowered his arm, an angry expression masking his features, "Damn it Saotome! You've hurt Akane! Why must you be so insensitive, you damn ingrate!" Ryoga took a deep breath, trying to school his emotion as best as he could, but at lest it was no good. The lost boy could feel his temper bubbling up, like a volcano just waiting to erupt.

Then he finally exploded in a fit of immense rage.

"SAOTOME PREPARE TO DIE!"

* * *

><p>Speed<p>

1. Happosai - Massively Hypersonic plus

2. Cologne - Massively Hypersonic Plus

3. Girl-Ranma - Hypersonic plus - Boy Ranma - Hypersonic

4. Genma - Hypersonic

5. Soun - Hypersonic

6. Ryoga - Hypersonic


	3. Ichigo the Shaman

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Shaman King. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>The world of the living or just generally plain old earth to those who did not live within the radius of the Soul Society, a place where all dead souls go if they happened to die within Northern Japan as the world was a huge place and the Soul Society couldn't purify all humans, as they were an ungodly amount of human beings within the world. <strong>_

_**No. They were only one set of warriors known as shinigami within a portion of the world as a whole.**_

_**They weren't perfect by any means of the imagination.**_

_**Instead Southern Japan was populated by a different breed of warriors. There was a tribe of supernatural beings that could summon souls from the spirit world or could even send them there if they found any souls wandering around the world. The other supernatural beings from that section of the world were actual swordsmen/fighters. And those kinds of warriors (humans) known as Shamans chose the partner (spirit) that they were destined to battle with as the two would complement each other for all eternity, until the human died. However the shinigami(s) within Northern Japan actually had their partners born within their souls if one inherited the blood from one's parent who in return would've to inherit that warrior-blood from one's own parent and so on and so forth. **_

_**The interesting thing was that the shinigami(s) within Northern Japan **__**had humans who also gained supernatural powers, but fought nothing like the shamans from the Southern side of Japan as they fought with bows and arrows, not swords. Then again Southern Japan just wasn't crawling with the heartless beings that went around looking for human souls to feast on.**_

_**But this didn't mean that the two beings of a higher-dimensional plane field wouldn't clash and shake the world for all its worth. **_

* * *

><p><em>A vibrating sound followed by a ringing noise reverberated throughout a small three bedroomed house inhabited by a beautiful woman with long orange hair, her husband, and three children of which two were female twins and one was the star of the story whom happened to be the oldest children of the wife's and husband's three children. <em>

"_Ah! Someone's calling us! I shall get it!" An exuberant roar of a tall muscular man's voice drummed on the very air itself like drummers on a drum. His short black spiky hair stood upward and seemed to defy gravity itself as his onyx coloured eyes danced with mirth within them at the prospect of answering the call to find out it was one of his friends. _

_He had stubble and slight sideburns. His attire consisted of a long white trench coat falling to his ankles that looked more like a bigger version of Dexter's lab coat from Dexter's Laboratory, and his appearance was complete with an orange Hawaii shirt and black trousers. _

_This was Isshin Kurosaki, the husband of one of the most beautiful women in the city of Karakura Town: Masaki Kurosaki. He worked as a doctor to bring in ends-meat for his family, and he always tried to cheer them up with his shenanigans and goofy demeanour. He was a decent man if he did say so himself. _

_Isshin picked up the phone and answered it exuberantly, "Welcome friend! Never be shy to saunter on down to the home of the Kurosakis!"_

"_I might just have to take you up on that invite old friend__." Isshin's grin widened at the all too familiar voice he had come to know in all his years living within the world of the living. _

"_Kisuke Urahara." Isshin announced, grinning, "How's it been old chum? Ya know you and Tessai should c'mon down here for tea sometime. I'm sure the wife and our children would love to see ya both. Who knows?"_

"_That we may do Isshin-kun… That we may do." __Kisuke said earnestly before deciding to get down to business, "__I've detected strong reiatsu leaking out of your home Isshin__."_

_Isshin scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner, "Well, shucks, I didn't realize I was already regaining my rei-."_

"_No. It isn't coming from you." __Came Kisuke's calm denial that immediately made Isshin flinch as fear welled up inside of his eyes. Could it be coming from Masaki? No. She lost her powers only recently. It couldn't be coming from Yuzu and Karin because the ability to see ghosts past over their generation completely. That just left-…_

"_It's coming from your son. And a mass amount of it." __Kisuke elucidated with his voice betraying none of his emotions. He could sense the reiryoku just oozing off of Ichigo in spades!_

"_Damn it!" Isshin hissed quietly, "How much reiryoku are we talking about here?"_

"_About captain-level if I'm being perfectly honest with you." __Isshin gasped at that. _

"_That means hollows'll be all over him."_

"_Precisely." __Kisuke agreed. "__But not to worry, dear friend, for I have created a new kido that could be very beneficial to your son Ichigo. It'll keep the hollows away from him that's for sure__." Kisuke grinned. _

_Isshin's eyes widened, "You're not joking right? This kido spell of yours can really assure that my boy won't be targeted by hollows?"_

"_Yes. Ichigo's reiryoku will be that of a unseated officer once I cast this kido spell on him. You could think of the reiryoku restrictor along the lines of a special suit of armour that'll seal off a vast majority of Ichigo's reiryoku and strengthen that portion of his powers exponentially. I would say once the reiryoku restrictor comes off, Ichigo'll have the reserves of three captains put together!"_

_Isshin almost had a heart attack as he laughed uproariously, "I always knew my boy had it in him to be extremely strong! You should see him go in karate class; he smacks those other kids around like they're nothing!"_

"_I can imagine." __Kisuke said tentatively, sweat-dropping, "__So can you bring Ichigo around here later tonight for me to place the kido spell on him Isshin?__"_

"_Of course, of course!" Isshin agreed frantically, "I'll take him to karate class first and come around your place afterward to get a better look at this kido spell for myself, after that I'll pick up Ichigo and bring him around to yours, sound good?"_

"_Yes. See you soon Isshin."_

"_Back at cha Kisuke-kun!"_

_With the conversation finished between the lads, Isshin hang up the phone with a thoughtful look on his face. Usually his wife Masaki took Ichigo to karate class, but today of all days Isshin had to get off of his lazy ass and assure that his son was safe at all costs. He'd do that because he was Ichigo's father, and that what fathers do after all. _

"_I'll see to it that you're safe… son."_

* * *

><p><strong>An Unexpected Turn in Life <strong>

**Chapter 1**

**Tragedy Strikes the Kurosaki Family like Lightning**

"Ichigo-chan, are you ready to attend karate class?"

A kind angelic voice echoed throughout a small house inhabited by a family of five. A beautiful orange haired lady with cream-skin stood at the bottom of the stairs with her hand cupping her mouth calling for her nine year old son to be ready for karate-class. Her pink bosom hugged her skin and emphasized her hour-glass figure that swayed from side to side, giving a mesmerizing view of her rear-end to any observers watching her.

Her chocolate brown skirt fell to her ankles, covering her long smooth legs that could've helped her complete in a basketball game if she wanted to. And her amazing appearance was completed by the loose-fitting high-heels on her feet.

"Be down in a minute mom, I just gotta find my belt." The voice of a young boy known as Ichigo Kurosaki echoed from upstairs, making the woman now known as his mother shake her head with a smile on her face.

"Don't take too long son. Your friend Tatsuki-chan'll find another partner to spar with if we don't show up soon ya know." Ichigo's mother said to somewhat tease her son, and it worked as an embarrass sputter sounded out from upstairs, making the smile on his mother's face widen.

That smile soon disappeared as her mouth opened in a shock gasp as the woman found her waist ensnared by two strong arms, "Ohh! Is my dear Masaki torturing our little Ichigo again?"

The woman now known as Masaki giggled softly before a moan of pleasure escaped her lips as the man sank his teeth onto her ear like a bunny rabbit, "Isshin! Our daughters are in the living room watching TV ya know." She seemingly scolded Isshin as the feel of his little nibbles on her ear was too irresistible to ignore.

She grinded her hips against his private parts, and jumped in surprise at the hardness of it. Isshin gained a sheepish grin on his bearded face, "Ah. The boys are feeling a little solid down there! Haha!"

The woman sighed at the man's behaviour, though she couldn't keep the smile from spreading across her face. This was her husband Isshin Kurosaki. He'd saved her from a rare virus of sorts at the cost of something dear, and his powers were a last no more. Where he came from would not accept what he did for the woman with long orange hair, but he did not care.

To him he was only returning the favour to the orange haired woman.

Isshin's face suddenly got serious, "I just got off of the phone with Kisuke." Masaki's eyes widened at the name of the man who assisted Isshin in curing her of the virus that threatened to wipe her out. "He says Ichigo's reiatsu is beginning to leak out." He whispered into her ear, making her gasp.

This was something that both had greatly worried about. They knew that they were descendants of higher beings, one were humans whom developed supernatural powers and were able to utilize that potential known as reiryoku (spirit energy) and turn it into great power which was known as reiatsu (spiritual pressure), on the contrary the beings of Isshin's tribe could also utilize their reiryoku and turn it into tremendous reiatsu.

The other was not even human… per say, in the sense that Isshin died and was reborn up in heaven where he trained in an academy to become an ascended samurai-like warrior that went around purifying monsters without hearts.

The man's very being consisted of reishi (spirit particles) which could be used to walk on the very air itself. In fact the only reason he could be seen was because of his good friend Kisuke Urahara whom made him an artificial body known as a gigai so humans could interact with him and he could blend into the human-world without having to face the consequences of his actions.

Ichigo was a mixture of two powerful tribes his mother and father originated from. It was an extreme rarity for one to inherit the powers of both tribes from one's parents, hence why the other two children had not even the ounce of reiryoku within their systems, something that the two were thankful for. It was probably due to the fact that they were twins, and so it seemingly skipped their generation.

Either way, the two were thankful that their daughters didn't obtain any powers from them so they could live normal lives (life's). Ichigo, however, for all intents and purposes, would not be living a normal life as the monsters that the race of warriors Isshin was a descendant from slayed would be hunting for the boy to gain that abnormal power within him.

Masaki bit her top lip, "What are we going to do about Ichigo-chan?"

Isshin laughed in a goofy manner, "Oh don't you worry about that dear! Just leave that to me! Your lab coat wearing knight in shining white armour shall see to it that our son is well-protected!" A small giggle reverberated from around the corner while a sigh followed after it, signalling that the two five year old girls had heard their father.

He was probably rambling incoherently like he always did (to the twins), but Masaki knew her husband better than that. And she thanked him with a kiss on the cheek for the way he always tried to lighten the mood even if it meant making himself look like a clown in front of his children.

"Thank you Isshin. Sometimes I forget why I married you." Masaki said with an affection smile on her face.

Isshin had his arms crossed over his chest and a big grin on his face. "Well I'm not perfect my dear."

Masaki put her hands on his chest, "You're close enough my love." She giggled.

Isshin scratched his cheek bashfully before getting down to business once again, "I'll take Ichigo to karate class today, you stay here and prepare some of that wonderful cooking you make so well my dear." Masaki rolled her eyes and playfully hit her husband in his arm.

"My hero, eh?" Masaki asked jestingly, making Isshin laugh before his eyes narrowed and his serious demeanour was on show once again.

"Kisuke's planning to put a reiryoku restrictor on Ichigo. He said it would restrict Ichigo's reiatsu to that of a unseated officer while continuously strengthening the portion of power its holding back from Ichigo so hollows won't see fit to devour him. Bottom-line is once the reiryoku restrictor comes off, Ichigo could've the reiatsu of three captains put together!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Blinking and gaping was all Masaki could do after she heard that. She knew her baby boy had a tremendous amount of reiryoku for a small boy of only nine years old, but to know he could have the power of three captains blended together, well, that was a frightening thought.

Their musings of Ichigo and his potential were broken by the sound of footsteps descending (down) the stairs, "I'm ready, mom." The boy was short with a mop of orange spiky hair, his eyes were hazel, and his smile could light up the universe with its radiance. He wore a karate gi-top with a yellow belt, white gi bottoms, and black sandals on his feet.

Inexplicably, Isshin gleamed.

"Were you tw-."

"YOU'RE LATE… ICHIGOOOOOOO!"

Isshin soared towards Ichigo who was still on the third step of the stairs with a flying-kick, receiving a sigh out of Ichigo who amazingly leap-frogged into the air the moment his father got within reach of him and tremendously stomped his feet into the taller man's stomach, making blood fly from Isshin's mouth as his back harshly slammed off of the stairs before he rolled to a painful stop by his wife's feet.

Masaki had a look of amusement on her face while two set of little feet came stomping their way, "What's happened!?" A little girl with light brown hair falling to her shoulders asked frantically as she looked at her injured father worriedly with her brown orbs for eyes. She wore a yellow dress and brown socks.

"Mommy, what happened to daddy?" The brown haired girl asked as she sauntered over to Masaki and tugged on her skirt.

Masaki smiled down at the girl, "Don't worry, Yuzu-chan. He was just playing with Ichigo-chan again." Ichigo frowned at his mother use of the honorific for him but didn't speak up as the black haired girl smirked at him.

"It seems like it was more than just playing." The black haired girl grinned. Her eyes were dark as she wore a red t shirt, black shorts, and white socks on her feet. "Ichi-nii beat up the old man there like he was nothing."

"Karin-chan!" Her twin sister scolded her.

Karin shrugged, "What? It's true."

"But you'll make daddy feel bad!" Yuzu resorted before Isshin jumped up to his feet with his hands on his hips.

"Ohhh! There's no need to worry about your old man my precious little girl!" Isshin assured and Yuzu smiled at her father. Isshin looked at Ichigo, "Those were some good moves my boy, I can't wait to see you in action at karate class."

Ichigo lifted an eyebrow, "I thought mamma was taking me to karate-class."

Isshin wagged his finger chidingly, "Can't an old man spend some time with his son? You never know what could happen in the future. Who knows how long we'll all be together." He explained jestingly, getting a nudge in the arm from Masaki as the girls tilted their little heads to the side.

"What does daddy mean by that?" Yuzu asked.

"Oh. He means nothing. He's just joking around. Aren't you Isshin?" Masaki asked expectantly, a sickly sweet smile on her face that hid her malevolence from her children as it bared heavily on the shoulders of a nervous Isshin.

"Haha! Of course! Of course! Your old man likes to joke around ya know!" Isshin assured the girls frantically, waving his arms around to stop his wife from killing him. Yuzu giggled softly while Ichigo and Karin rolled their eyes.

"…Oh brother." Ichigo sighed.

XxX

(Later)

XxX

Tripe aside: Ichigo accepted his dad taking him to karate-class and was venturing to karate class with his father in tow right now, the two walking through an alleyway as the sun started to sink from the sky, bathing the sky in a shiny orange colour that blended into Ichigo's carrot top hair very nicely.

As Ichigo and Isshin continued to near karate-class, Ichigo turned his head to glance at a ghostly-figure of a seemingly old man that made him sigh. It wasn't the first time he had seen these hologram-like humans, and it made him curious as to why he could see them when no one at his school could.

"Hey, dad." Ichigo tapped his father's arm.

"So you can see him." Isshin's serious voice surprised Ichigo as his father did not even look at the ghostly figure leaning against the wall. "He's a spirit son."

"Spirit?" Ichigo wondered in confusion, "Like in ghosts that should be living in heavens, kinda spirits."

"Yes."

"Then why can I see 'em. When I ask the kids at my school if they can see those ghostly humans they think I'm telling some sort of joke." Ichigo explained with a frown on his face.

Isshin grinned widely, "That's because you have something known as reiryoku my boy, and a mass amount of it."

"Reiryoku? What's that?" The little boy's curiosity was getting the better of him now.

"It's something only special humans have. It lays within your very essence son. I myself once had it, but it sadly died out of my system as I continued to get older in life. Not everyday has this special trait Ichigo, for example your baby sisters don't have any sign of reiryoku as they haven't ever mentioned seeing spirits like you have son. This is because it skipped their generation entirely," Isshin lied while Ichigo looked up with a look of contemplation on his face as they started strolling alongside a slope leading to a river stream, "Unfortunately, you having so much reiryoku leaves you valuable to beings who want to eat you for that power." Ichigo wasn't ready to learn about his inheritance just as yet.

Ichigo grinned toothily, "I dunno about that old man! I'm pretty tough myself, ya know!"

Isshin chuckled, "Yeah you're pretty tough alright." Isshin suddenly stopped and bent down to his son's level who blinked at his father, "And you're gonna be even tougher." Isshin's expression turned grave, "Listen son, this is very serious. Your power could attract some dangerous beings that could potentially harm your sisters. It's because of this is why you will have a reiryoku restrictor placed upon you."

"Reiryoku restrictor?" Ichigo questioned as he blinked a couple of times, "What's that?"

Isshin gestured for Ichigo to start walking to which he did, "It's like a suit of armour that'll seal off a good deal of your reiryoku so the monsters that eat powerful humans with large amounts of reiryoku will stay away from you since the amount of reiryoku you have won't be enough to sate them. The reiryoku sealed off from you will strengthen over time and once you remove the reiryoku restrictor you'll be extremely powerful my son."

Ichigo nodded dumbly. He had no idea what his father was talking about, but he would take his word that he just wanted to see to it that Ichigo was safe. Add to the fact Ichigo did not want to put his family in danger because of an incomprehensible power within him that could draw monsters to him.

"Okay dad. I'll trust you on this. Don't let me down." Ichigo said and Isshin smiled as Ichigo turned his head to look down the slope and saw a little girl looking hard at the ocean with something of a depressed expression on her face, 'What's she doing there?'

"C'MON SON! LET'S PICK UP THE PACE AND GO!" Isshin yelled as he placed his hands on Ichigo's back and began pushing him to karate class, making him sigh as he momentarily took his eyes off of the girl and paced toward karate class.

'She'll be fine.'

xXx

"Oh, hey, Ichigo-chan, what's up?" A girl asked once Isshin and Ichigo made it into a decently sized room with brown woodened flooring, a huge mirror alongside the wall, and a tall man wearing a black gi with a black belt tied around his waist standing in the centre of the room. Surprisingly, Ichigo did not frown when the girl added the 'chan' suffix to his name. This was because they'd been friends ever since Ichigo was first enrolled into nursery, and because the girl's parents were on good terms with Ichigo's, the two ended up attending the same Junior school.

The way his momma called him "Ichigo-chan" was obviously meant to baby him.

"Hi. It's good to see you Tatsuki." Ichigo greeted with a smile on his face. The girl was wearing the same gi as Ichigo, only she'd a red belt on instead to signal she was of a lower rank than Ichigo in terms of karate. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

Tatsuki nodded her head contently and looked at Ichigo's smiling father curiously, "Where's your mother? Doesn't she normally drop you off?"

"Yeah. But apparently my old man here had a chore for me to do afterwards or something around those lines." Ichigo explained mysteriously as his long-time friend from nursery times blinked in utter confusion.

"Well I see you don't need me Ichigo-boy!" Isshin spoke up exuberantly, getting Ichigo to nod as Isshin bent down to whisper something in his ear, "I'll pick you up later, and then we'll head to Kisuke's to place that reiryoku restrictor on you." Ichigo's grunt was all the affirmation he needed before he stood up and bid his only son a goodbye with a pat on his shoulder.

"What'd your father ask you Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked in curiosity, but Ichigo waved his hand dismissively.

"It doesn't matter, Tatsuki." Tatsuki pouted at Ichigo, but Ichigo only grinned carelessly at her while scratching the side of his cheek.

"Well it looks like I'll have to beat that info outta you Ichigo!" Tatsuki assured, punching her two fists together in a challenging manner.

"Okay. We'll see about that." Ichigo said in a humble manner before the teacher assembled the rest of the students to line up in four rows of twenty, all wearing either yellow or red belts around their waists.

"I'm pleased that you could all make it to class. We'll be continuing where we all left off last week." Ichigo's sensei said and the kids including Ichigo all bowed once in a show of respect to the man that was teaching them how to defend themselves.

xXx

(With Isshin)

Isshin was making his way to Kisuke's place before he pulled out his phone to ring his blond haired friend he had known since he came from the Soul Society, a place where all human souls go after death and even become warriors of a higher being to any and all humans. Isshin wouldn't be going back there now though. Even know he offered his very powers to assure that Masaki lived it was still against the rules of the Soul Society to surrender one's powers to any human or human-related matters.

Isshin was just glad that his gigai blocked out his reiatsu-signature (small as it was) and turned him into a mere human (more or less), otherwise the Soul Society would find him and massacre him like a limb to the slaughter-house.

'C'mon Kisuke, I don't have all day.' Isshin stressed as he kept his phone pressed against his ear and heard the ringing of it while he walked along the slope he and son had walked across to get to Karate-class.

"_Ah, Isshin-kun, my good man, how are you tonight_?" Came the good-natured voice of Kisuke over the other line. "_I take it you've dropped your son off at karate class, huh_?"

"Yes. I'm walking towards your place now." Isshin told his friend. "I hope that reiryoku restrictor of yours is safe for my boy, ya' know. It's a father job to see to it that his son is well-protected from all threats after all!"

"_Of course, of course. A fine job you do at that my friend_." Kisuke agreed calmly, "_You should not worry, as I am a mere humble shopkeeper with a somehow decently sized brain to invent new things_." For some reason Isshin had the strange feeling that his friend was grinning widely and covering that huge smile with his trademark fan.

"Alrighty then! I'm on my way, since my boy won't be finished karate class for a couple of hours I might as well chill with the boys down at the cand-." Isshin stopped his line of thought as his eyes locked onto the form of the girl his son had noticed earlier still standing in the same place as if she were glued to the spot.

Kisuke decided to finish the doctor's line for him, "_Ohhhh! So the former shinigami's gonna grace this little stop with his presence alone, eh? I'm honoured you'd come down here Isshin-kun_." Isshin didn't respond as he lowered his head and eyed the girl by the river intently, swearing to himself that she was slowly falling in. Whether it was deliberate or not, the black haired doctor did not know.

"Why is she standing there?" Isshin murmured to himself, but the phone was still attached to his ear, hence Kisuke heard him as clear as day.

"_Who's standing where_?" A sly smirk formed on Kisuke's features, "_Are you doing the business with your wife? How dirty of you. No wonder she won't move from the spot she's standing at_." Still no response would come from the black haired man as he carefully treaded down the slope and onto the river stream as if he were being pulled towards the girl by a magnetic force.

"AH! I didn't mean to disturb you. It's just that you look troubled so I thought I could help you." Isshin chuckled in a bid to lighten the mood as he stood directly behind the girl and was oblivious to the barbarous breathing coming from somewhere in the air. The black lightning that inexplicably flashed throughout the sky made Isshin flinch as the girl calmly stayed in place.

"Well that was an odd occurrence wasn't it?" Isshin chuckled.

The girl did not grace him with a reply, making Isshin face-fault before he quickly regained his defiance with a glint shining in his eye.

xXx

(Elsewhere – Location Unknown)

At a small corner shop located on the edge of town near the cemetery was a blond, bleached haired man sitting in seiza with a phone resting by his ear. His messy bangs covered his eyes slightly, as the bangs of his hair were seen hanging out of the green striped hat he'd on his head. He had pale skin and was a fairly tall man with decently sized muscles, not overly so.

He wore a dark green trench coat over a lighter green kimono top complete with baggy green kimono trousers, a white sash tied around his waist and geta sandals on his feet with a brown wooden walking cane in his hand.

The goofy man's face immediately turned serious as no response came from his equally goofy friend, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"What is it Urahara-dono?" A masculine voice asked before a huge bespectacled man came walking into the living room with a tray on his tan-skinned hand with two cups of tea placed upon it. His black hair was cornrowed as the end of his hair was braided into a ponytail reaching (to) his upper back to match his long and thick moustache. He wore a plain white muscle shirt underneath a long dark blue apron, blue tight jeans, and blue toed-sandals on his feet.

"Isshin's not responding directly to my responses. I think he may be talking to a girl." Kisuke said as his bucket-shaped hat shadowed his eyes.

Tessai stroked his chin with one hand while balancing the tray on the other one, "Could the girl he's speaking to have some sort of-."

Kisuke put his hand up as Isshin began speaking up, "_Hello? Hey! Are you even listen-. Hey, what happened to your face? It's not there_!"

"It's not there?" Kisuke murmured to himself as he and Tessai both pondered that sentence as if remembering something of high importance.

"Wasn't it reported when we were still in the Soul Society that a certain hollow used the victims it ensnared to lure human souls and shinigami alike to its clutches so it could devour their souls." Tessai said and Kisuke's eyes widened in remembrance of the monstrous being that had been avoiding any and all shinigami-warriors for fifty years!

"ISSHIN! GET AWAY FROM THE GI-" But it was too late! The bloodcurdling scream of Isshin echoed through the phone and devastated Kisuke and Tessai, "ISSHINNNNNNNNNNNN!" Kisuke screamed desperately while Tessai covered his mouth as a horrified gasp escaped it.

"No. He wasn't of the age to die like this." Tessai concluded while Kisuke seethed in fury and pounded the table in exasperation.

"His family isn't going to take the news well." Kisuke stated calming himself down before a deep, gruffly voice came from the still on phone.

"_**Well that was a delicious meal. He had more than the average amount of reiryoku in him… minuscule as it was; it still wasn't bad for a human. Hehe. The foolish man didn't even know the girl by the river was merely an illusion. It sucks to be him then. Mwhahahahahahahahaha**_**!"**

"So I assume this is the hollow who has eaten a kind-hearted family man." Kisuke spoke up darkly, getting a curious "huh" from the hollow over the other line. "I think you may have dropped the phone _partner_."

The volume that came through the phone let Kisuke know the hollow had picked up the phone. "_**Oh! What's this? That clown of a human had some friends I see. It just means more dinner for me then**_**."**

Kisuke's fist clenched involuntarily before he reached for his cane and grabbed it in defiance. "You'll be making a grave mistake… _partner,_ challenging me. Because I can assure you that your very being will be casted away to the deep depths of hell to rot in the devilish flames of it confines for all eternity."

The hollow gulped subconsciously at Kisuke's dark tone. "_**Who are you human? You sound like one of those veteran shinigami I've eaten. And trust me… I've eaten a lot of shinigami… boy! I've eaten tons of vice-captains in my time, so don't underestimate me boy!**_**"**

"Boy, huh?" Kisuke grinned wryly, "Well this mere 'boy' happens to have reached the very rank of a captain."

"_**WHAT?**_**!"**

"That's right hollow-san. A captain, the cream of the crop, although I like to consider myself at a modest third to the top kind of warrior, as I am a mere humble shopkeeper." The line abruptly went dead and Kisuke sighed, "He's gone."

"What'll you do now, Kisuke-dono?" Tessai questioned as he placed the tray down on the table and placed his hands together in a moment's pray for Isshin.

Kisuke stood up, gripping his wooden walking cane tightly in his hand, "Isshin's gone I fear, his family have a right to know. I'll be going to inform them this instant. You pick up Isshin's son at karate-class and keep the boy safe from any hollows."

Tessai nodded his head as he stood up and ignored the two cups of tea(s) he prepared for Kisuke and himself. This was no time for tea damn it! "Will you be using the reiryoku restrictor kido spell you created on Ichigo-san?"

Kisuke nodded affirmatively, "Yes. After tonight I doubt that Masaki would want anything to do with Karakura town again… as saddening as a thought that is." Tessai nodded his head sadly and prepared to walk on outta the house to collect Ichigo from karate class with Kisuke heading out to inform Isshin's wife and two daughters of the devastating news that awaited them.

XxX

(Kurosaki's home)

Masaki abruptly held her heart as her two daughters contently watched TV while she was preparing dinner for them all as a happy family, 'Why have I got this ominous feeling that something bad has happened all of a sudden?' Had Ichigo been hurt? Hollows were purposely after her son for his delicious power after all. Masaki couldn't bear the thought of her only son in danger for any reasons that he himself could not comprehend!

'If only I had my powers still. I could feel out Isshin and Ichigo-chan to make sure they're alright.' Masaki thought frustratingly, cutting up a carrot into pieces for tonight dinner. It had been a year since the woman had lost her powers. It was as if an incomprehensible vacuum of absorbing powers took hers away.

She frowned at the loss of her powers. She had felt significantly weaker the time that artificially created hollow-thingy inflicted her with the 'virus- symptom' that nearly eradicated her from the inside out if it wasn't for Isshin who heroically swept into her inner world and rescued her from the devilish thing. They still had little idea of where the fiendish being came from. Kisuke had an idea, but he couldn't quite put the pieces together.

Isshin did feel complied to save her after she intentionally took that bite from the hollow-being in order to eradicate it and in essence save his sorry ass as well. And that was as one would say the start of a beautiful relationship. She did not regret marrying Isshin even if it did mean shutting herself out from the rest of her people as only pure blooded members of Masaki's clan, the Ishida's clan, the clan that had adopted her, were allowed to interact with each other since all clans of the type of warriors Masaki was from was a part of one giant tribe.

Outsiders such as Isshin were forbidden to so much of even look at them with their unworthy eyes.

Masaki was broken out of her musings of her tribe who wanted nothing to do with her by the sound of banging coming from the direction of the door, "Momma! Someone's at the door, I think it's daddy." Yuzu informed her mother brightly, "Maybe he brought onii-chan back early."

Masaki smiled blissfully, placing her hands on her hips, "We'll just see about that dear." Yuzu cheered and bounced up on the sofa with her sister Karin sighing while their mother walked over to the front door and opened it up before answering the silhouette standing there brightly.

"It's good to see you Urahara-san! What can I do for you? Isshin isn't here at the moment." Masaki told him as Kisuke's bucket-shaped hat shadowed his eyes, masking his emotions perfectly while he held one of his hands on his head as the other one was used to hold his wooden walking cane.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance Masaki-san, but I have some troubling news that I'm sure you won't want to hear, but it must be said I fear." Kisuke said solemnly.

"What?" Masaki blinked before her eyes narrowed as she gave Kisuke an expectant look. "Did something go wrong while you were placing that restrictor on my son?"

Kisuke shook his head to Masaki's relief, "No. On the contrary, Ichigo is alright and is being picked up by Tessai."

"Why would Tessai need to pick up Ichigo-chan for? What's Isshin doing?" Kisuke allowed the silence to reign supreme as he placed his hand on top of his green bucket-shaped hat and gave Masaki an apologetic look that made the orange haired woman's eyes widened in realization, "No."

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

That was all he needed to say.

Salty tears ran down Masaki's cheeks as she covered her mouth to keep a dismay gasp from escaping it. "No. No. He was the love of my life." Masaki wailed and Kisuke nodded his head simply, not knowing quite what to say at this point. "How'll I raise three kids without him?"

"I can still place the kido spell on Ichigo if you want to keep hollows away from him." Kisuke tried to offer some solace to her, "This town is crawling with hollows every day, madam. Hollows can be sneaky ones who'll do just about anything just to get a good meal." Kisuke tightened his grip on his wooden cane.

Masaki wiped her tears with the back of her hand but it was all for naught as the floodgates from behind her eyes were utterly destroyed due to this devastating news that she would never see the love of life again… ever again!

"I would appreciate that Urahara-san… I don't think I can stay here any longer… within this town anymore." Masaki admitted, tentatively rubbing her arm while Kisuke nodded his head in understanding. "Can I see Isshin's body, if that's not too much to ask? I want to pay my final respects to the man that I loved."

Silence was king again.

"Oh kami! That hollow ate every last part of him!" Masaki squeaked and then whimpered loudly, losing every last ounce of strength in her knees as she fell on them while holding her heart. Kisuke just nodded sadly before he looked over to the saddened children watching their mother breaking down and not knowing why.

"Why are you upset momma?" Yuzu asked tentatively, getting Masaki to let out a gasp as she wiped her tears away from her eyes and turned around to her two small daughters and crawled over to them.

"Things are going to be very hard now, but we'll manage somehow." Masaki tried to reassure her daughters who just curiously tilted their heads to the side in a questionable manner, "Us three and Ichigo-chan will be moving away from Karakura Town." Yuzu gasped while Karin raised an eyebrow.

"What about the old man? Won't he be coming with us?" Karin asked and more tears flowed freely from Masaki's eyes as the dams holding the water back from her eyes would not repair themselves as the orange haired woman hugged her daughters tightly, much to their confusion.

"No. That's impossible. It's just us four from now on." Masaki cried.

"But why mama? Why can't daddy come with us?" Yuzu asked.

"He just can't dear," Masaki insisted as the girls felt their mother's tears fall onto their heads, "…He just can't." The girls were completely saddened and bewildered as to why their father could not come with them to their new home while Kisuke gave the distraught mother a sad look.

'You led a wonderful life Isshin my old friend… and I'm sorry I wasn't there for you.'

xXx

(Karate class)

The session went according to schedule for one Ichigo Kurosaki… almost that was. His sensei would show the class who wore a mixture of red and yellow belts, the first and second ranks, respectively in karate, a few moves like how to move swiftly while maintaining one's stance or how to cleanly disarm one's opponent if they had a weapon on them. He would then have his class do a few sit-ups, star-ups, the casual exercise to strengthen one's endurance and improve on one's overall fitness.

Afterwards he then ordered the kids to find themselves a sparring partner and trade blows with them for the rest of the class. Tatsuki obviously chose Ichigo, she always chose Ichigo, something that had the other kids questioning if she and Ichigo were an item until she threateningly pounded her fists together to scare them off.

Nobody wanted to mess with Tatsuki. She was the second best student after Ichigo, hence why she wanted to spar with him as she could never beat him and it got on her nerves that she couldn't beat him.

And today was no exception.

Yes. For the most part: it was business as usual barring that weird cornrowed haired guy who sauntered into the room twenty minutes ago, said two words to Ichigo's sensei, and sat on the bench just watching Ichigo, and Ichigo only, as if he were saying something around the lines of, "I know your secret. You see dead people."

Whoa… hold up, mind blowing experience right there.

Nonsense aside, that man was really started to piss off Tatsuki as he wouldn't keep his eyes off of her friend Ichigo. But the orange haired boy merely ignored him and continued to wrestle it out with his childhood friend Tatsuki Arisawa. His sensei seemingly gained a sad look on his face before his expression returned to his usual stony, stoic demeanour.

Once the parents started filling up the room, Ichigo's sensei looked at his watch and whistled using his finger and thumb to signal that it was the end of class.

"Time! Everyone lower your guards now." He commanded and everyone did just that. "I'm very proud of you all. You're all making great head-way, go home now and keep practicing to perfect your moves. Just remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was the art of mastering karate. It takes intense years of discipline to perfect the art known as karate! But you're on the right path to doing so." The kids groaned as they turned around to tiredly walk off to the people who had come to collect them while the man in black gave Ichigo a sad look.

"Hey, Ichigo-chan, who do you think that man is over there?" Tatsuki asked as she pointed at the strange man who still kept staring at Ichigo as if expecting him to come to him. His hands were shaped like a rectangle as his piercing eagle-like stare did not falter in the slightest at Ichigo.

"Huh?" Ichigo wondered as he looked around for his father, "I'm not too sure myself Tatsuki. But oh well. It's not like he can do anything to me."

"If you say so." Tatsuki frowned.

"I do say so." Ichigo grinned before raising his eyebrow, "Is my old man running late or something. He said he had something for me tonight."

Tatsuki grinned as she nudged Ichigo with her elbow, "What's that? A new toy? Oh you're so lucky Ichigo-chan."

"Yeah probably, I'm not too sure to be honest with you." Ichigo lied as he honestly doubted his good friend would believe him If he said he saw dead people and needed a spell placed upon him to keep monsters from coming after him to devour him alive.

Tatsuki nodded as she patted Ichigo on the shoulder, "Okay Ichigo-chan. Well I better get going. My mom's over there to pick me up. Make sure to bring in that new toy your father gives you. And DON'T get too full of yourself karate-san because of this win you have over me! I'll beat you someday, ya' know." Ichigo grinned sheepishly while Tatsuki jogged off to her mother and pouted at the bespectacled man watching Ichigo like a hawk's eye.

"Come on dear, we don't want to keep your father waiting now." Tatsuki's mother gently grabbed her hand and urged her to saunter out of the room.

"Okay mother." She flashed her good friend Ichigo a look who gave her a thumbs-up in return and she returned it with a smile in kind. Little did little Tatsuki know that would be the last time she smiled at her friend as she obliviously took off with her mother, her naivety making her believe that she'd always see her childhood friend each and every time he came to karate-class.

"Ichigo," The karate master said with sadness held in his voice.

"Yeah." Ichigo looked at the man curiously, "Sup? Does it have something to do with that man who keeps looking at me funny?"

"It does. He gave me some rather… heart-breaking news you need to hear."

Ichigo blinked a couple of times as he started hyperventilating, "Why me? Did something happen to one of my friends?" Or God-forbid his family, he didn't want to even think that one of them could be ill or even… dead. But as his sensei shook his head in the negative that either one of the few friends Ichigo had here at karate-class were in danger, Ichigo started to get worried.

"It's your father." Ichigo's eyes slowly started to grow in size as his breathing became even more rapid. "He's dead." And that was as they say the nail in the coffin for Ichigo. The pain ripped through Ichigo's heart like a samurai unmercifully cutting off a man's arm. In his mind Ichigo could see himself running away, grabbing semblances of his emotions before shoving them away, never wanting to deal with them again.

"It's okay to cry, Ichigo," The karate master placed his hand on the stone-faced Ichigo's shoulder as the boy's shoulders remained slumped with his arms flung lifelessly downward as if they'd been broken here in karate-class. Not a word was uttered from Ichigo even as Tessai strolled over to them. He merely stood there looking at the floor, "Ichig-."

"It's okay, old man. I know I was responsible for this. If I hadn't come here then my old man would still be alive." The karate master shook his head at the way the boy shamed himself for his father's death, "I will bear the burden of his death… and I will no longer come back to karate-class."

Will the burden of Isshin's death ever be lifted off of the young boy's shoulders? And what trials will the now stoic young boy go through as he unwilling journeys on a dark path in a bid to not have to deal with his emotions? The wheels of Ichigo's life have been turned and now the boy must settle within a new town while trying to push those who attempt to get close to him away.


	4. Naruto's Master

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Enjoy.**

**This is a light-hearted fic not meant to be taken seriously. **

* * *

><p><strong>A Guiding Light to Greatness<strong>

**Chapter One **

**No Sweat at All **

_In a village hidden by the leaves, widely known as the strongest village in the Elemental Nations, a tiny little orphaned boy wearing a orange t shirt, and black shorts reaching his knees was using the blue sandals neatly on his feet to scurry away from a group of ninja all ranked as chunin after letting off a stink bomb in the Academy, a place where all aspiring shinobi attend to learn what it meant to be a ninja!_

"_You ain't catchin' me ya losers!" Shouted the aforementioned spiky blond haired rascal with three whisker-marks each lined up on either side of his face. This blond bundle of trouble was known as Naruto Uzumaki, hated among his people for reasons he didn't know, but neither cared, because he spent the majority of his time pranking those that ignored him._

"_Get back here you trouble making brat!" One of the chunin ninjas chasing Naruto shouted at the boy. _

_The boy chortled loudly in response to the ninja's demand. How he just loved to play pranks, and make a nuisance of himself. It was the only thing he could do with little to no friends to hang around with. At least he had the Hokage's support, but since the old man was the leader of this village he didn't exactly have a lot of time to spare for the blond bundle of mischievousness, hence he had to make his own_ _entertainment._

_That was by pulling pranks to annoy the ones who blanked him like he didn't even exist. Well he would show them that he did exist and he was very much alive, dattebayo!_

_But of course being up against ninjas when he himself was only seven year old, the experience of the opponents he was facing was bound to avail no matter how long the chase went on for. To the boy, it was more like a challenge to see how long he could last without getting caught. _

_As the boy kept on running, he eventually ran head first into a solid object, the force stopping his momentum and sending it right back at him. The end result was him on his rear-end with a pout of annoyance written all over his adorable face. _

_The boy looked up, finding out the solid object he ran into was a leg belonging to someone while the ninja chasing him each breathed sighs of relief that they'd finally caught up to the boy, "Hey, watch where you're going bub!" The fox boy rudely demanded of the person he had run into, while the man giggled creepily to himself, 'What's up with this guy? He's acting like one of those old-farts reading those boring orange books?'_

"_Gotcha brat!" The blond-boy cringed as a firm hand landed on his shoulder, "Did ya think you could outrun us for long, huh?"_

_As the ninja dragged the boy up to his feet, a look of annoyance was seen on the blond-boy's face, "Well I would've done so if it wasn't for this old fart!"_

_One of the ninjas looked at the old man who had his back turned to them, "Sorry for the disturbance sir. This brat's been causing trouble for the whole village lately," The whiskered-faced kid sulked angrily while the ninja bowed to the old man, "C'mon boy, your punishment waits!"_

_Just as the ninjas began pulling young Naruto away whilst he struggled in vain to free himself, they were halted by an old croaky voice, "Now hang on now, sunny. Where do ya think you're taking him?" The ninjas turned curious glances to the old man while Naruto tilted his head to the side._

_A look of realization was seen on the ninjas' faces once the old man turned to face them. His posture was hunched over with a wooden stick in his right grip, and his left arm was folded behind his back like an old man on his last pair of legs. Conveniently, the old man let out a violent cough as if to display how close he was to dying with saliva coming out of his mouth. The ninjas looked alarmed while Naruto grimaced at the gross old man. The old man merely patted his chest and flashed the younger men and boy a reassuring smile. _

_He had an oval-shaped face, three liver-spots on his temple, and his skin was tanned. His short white hair was on the verge of falling out completely. He had a long white beard, a long white moustache, and a pair of round glasses over his onyx coloured eyes. His attire consisted of a green dragon-patterned kimono, a pair of red pants, an orange obi tied around his wrist, and Chinese shoes on his feet. _

"_Hey, aren't you Yoshirou, the man who worked alongside the Nidaime hokage?" The ninjas gaped at the old man while Naruto had a puzzled look on his face. Their gawks were only enhanced by a humble smile from the old man identified as Yoshirou._

"_I heard you'd left the village years ago after resigning as a ninja." Another ninja spoke up, still in awe at the old man before them as if he was a messiah. _

"_Oh but of course sunny, I only got back a few days ago." Yoshirou abruptly turned his head to Naruto, confusing the boy who watched the old man sauntered toward him and gently grab his hand, "I actually came back to visit my grandson."_

_The ninjas' eyes went wide with shock while Naruto had a deadpan look written all over his face. Who the heck was this guy? And why was he saying he was Naruto's grandfather? Naruto was sure that he was a lonely child. He was told that his parents died honourably defending the village of Konoha against the monstrous fox of which attacked it seven years ago on Naruto's birthday. _

"_Y-You mean you're this brat's grandfather, Yoshirou-san?" The ninja asked to which Yoshirou nodded his head. The three of them all looked down at Naruto who hadn't taken his eyes off of Yoshirou. _

_Yoshirou calmly disconnected the chunin's hand off of Naruto's, pulling the boy to his side like he was meant to be there, "So gentleman as you can see I'm responsible for this little rascal here. I hope that isn't a problem." A look of amazement came over Naruto's face. He couldn't believe his luck. For once someone was actually helping him, not only helping him but acknowledging his presence!_

"_Oh yes!" One of the chunins sputtered involuntarily, too shocked that Yoshirou Nagano was related to the demon-boy, "I think you ought to know that your grandson let off stink bombs in the academy, Yoshirou-senpei." Naruto stuck his tongue out at him which made him fume. _

"_Okay, I'll have a word with him." Naruto instantly paled at that. Surely the old man wasn't going to lecture him. After all, for intents and purposes, he didn't even know the geezer. _

_One of the chunin-instructors gave Naruto a smirk seeing the panicked look on his face before bowing to Yoshirou, "Okay, we'll leave him in your capable hands, sir." The chunin stood up, receiving a wave of appreciation from Yoshirou while he looked around the area where he'd ran into Yoshirou. He grew incredulous seeing the building of only the civilians of the opposite sex to him enter._

_The sign only confirmed their location, 'Strange. What would Yoshirou-senpei be doing outside of the women's hot springs?' After a moment or two, the chunin shrugged along with his companions. Sparing Yoshirou one last bow, the three chunin left him and his supposed 'grandson' alone. _

"_What's the dealio you old fart? You ain't my grandpa!" Naruto said once the academy instructors were far enough away from them. _

_Yoshirou let out a good-natured belly laugh, "Well you're quite the disorderly one aren't ya sunny-boy? And here I thought you'd be much more appreciative of the one who saved you from a time-out." He shot a knowing look at Naruto, making the boy sheepishly rub the back of his head. _

"_Oh, yeah, I guess I owe you my thanks old man. Hehe." Naruto giggled. _

"_Think nothing of it child." Yoshirou dismissed it kindly, walking over the bridge and away from the heavenly place known as the women's hot springs, a set of binoculars in his hand which Naruto took notice of. Why would the old geezer want binoculars for? There was nothing interesting out here unless one counted the females, but Naruto wasn't into girls yet._

"_Huh?" Naruto blinked before running after the old man, "Hey, wait a minute old man!" Yoshirou looked curiously at Naruto once the boy caught up to him, "Why'd you decide to help me out back there?"_

"_Hm? What an unusual question to ask." Yoshirou said, walking forward with his stick tapping the ground. _

"_It's not an unusual question you old geezer!" Naruto shouted and Yoshirou laughed wholeheartedly. _

"_Well I think so, sunny. It's common nature of a human to want to assist another human out." Yoshirou told him. _

"_Well no one wants to help me out." Naruto resorted, a frown on his face. Yoshirou turned his head downward to look at the boy curiously. _

"_Why do you say that sunny?" Yoshirou asked. _

"_No one ever acknowledges me. I don't even get so much as a passing glance sometimes." Naruto whispered, his head lowered with a saddened look on his face. Yoshirou hummed in contemplation, a expression betraying none of his thoughts on his face, "I don't even have any parents. The old geezer up in the tower said they died after I was born."_

'_Looks like Hiruzen-sama's law didn't prevent the boy from suffering from loneliness.' Yoshirou mused with a sigh coming from his lips, "What about friends, sunny? Don't you have any friends?"_

_Naruto shook his head sadly, "No. It's almost like they're scare of me for some reason. I dunno why. I tried to make friends by defending this purple haired girl from three bullies picking on her, but they pummelled me into submission before the girl's relative came and shooed them away. I didn't even get a thank you for trying to protect her. He just took her, and left me bruised and beaten on the floor."_

_Yoshirou mentally sighed, he figured the people of Konoha would shy away from the boy, but to go as far as to influence their children to stay away from Naruto was a step too far in his book. _

_Yoshirou stopped completely, causing Naruto to look up at him in curiosity, seeing the old man's hand coming downward to his level where it sat itself on his shoulder, "What's your name sunny-boy?"_

"_Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto introduced himself._

"_Awww. That's a nice name." Yoshirou complimented the boy, and Naruto grinned bashfully, "As for my name you may call me Yoshirou_ _Nagano if you want to." _

"_Okay, but I'll stick to old fart or old geezer for now. Maybe old man if you're lucky," Naruto smiled in a cheeky manner, causing Yoshirou to laugh. What a boisterous and brash young boy he was. He didn't have any respect for the authorities or his superiors by the looks of it. _

"_You know what sunny? I'm a little hungry. Care to join me for a bowl of ramen. It's on me." Yoshirou offered._

_Naruto's eyes lit up, "You mean it?"_

_Yoshirou smiled at the boy, "Absolutely."_

"_Hurray!" Naruto chirped uproariously, waving his arms up in the air, "Ramen's my favourite meal of all time old man! You're the best old geezer for offering to buy me ramen ever!"_

_Yoshirou chuckled, "Well it'd seem like I've picked a good place to eat then sunny-boy."_

"_Amen!"_

_As the two ventured off to Ichiraku ramen shop, determined to enjoy a couple of dishes of ichiraku's finest courses, each took notice of the hostility directed toward Naruto. Icily cold glares attempted to freeze the boy in place, and if it wasn't that then they just outright turned their backs on him to pretend like he wasn't even there. But Yoshirou could hear the subtle whispers coming from the cause of Naruto's loneliness._

_Yoshirou sighed as he and Naruto continued to near Ichiraku Ramen shop. He didn't blame them. They were just looking for a target to vent their hatred onto in the form of harsh glares, and Naruto was the unfortunate victim due to what lied in his gut. It was an unfortunate burden the boy had to carry until his grave. _

_Eventually, the two reached a small hut where Naruto grumpily walked underneath the flaps with Yoshirou lifting one up to follow the little boy inside. _

"_Ah. Welcome friend. I-." The owner of Ichiraku ramen shop went on to welcome the two who'd just walked in only to stop himself glancing at the old man who sauntered in with his best customer, "Ah, hello, Yoshirou. It's nice to see that you could pop back in here again friend."_

"_Indeed Teuchi. I decided to bring a friend with me as well after I met him by.- Well say a comforting place." Yoshirou lied, his old friend shaking his head at him before turning to look at Naruto. _

"_Hello, Naruto-kun! I see you met my good friend Yoshirou." Teuchi said with a grandfatherly smile on his face._

_Naruto's gaze shifted to the old man wearing white clothes made for a chef, "You know this old geezer, gramps?"_

_Teuchi laughed wholeheartedly, "Yeah! I've known Yoshirou since we were kids."_

"_Whoa! Old farts like you two were actually kids first!" Teuchi and Yoshirou both chuckled at the boy's childish ignorance while a cute brown haired girl came sauntering to the counter having heard the voice of young Naruto. _

"_Oh Naruto-chan, you're so silly! We're all going to grow old someday, sweetie!" The girl said perkily. _

_Naruto looked at the girl with his arms folded over his chest, "Really, Ayame-neechan? 'Cause I always figured I would be young forever or something. I dunno what I would look like If I grew up to be an old geezer." Naruto took that moment to envision himself as an old man, mentally cringing at the image of himself being old but giving a thumbs-up to open-air._

_Ayame giggled sweetly, "Well of course not Naruto-chan. No one knows what they're going to look like when they grow up, but that's the beauty of growing up, being amazed at the kind of adult you turned into, and looking at the memories of your past to reminisce about them." Yoshirou nodded his head, impressed at the young girl's maturity while Teuchi smirked proudly. _

"_Well I guess I'll find out. I have to grow up If I wanna be the Hokage of this village." Naruto replied, climbing up on one of the eight stools next to the counter. A saddened expression then came to his face. "'Cept I dunno if I can be Hokage though."_

"_Awww. Why do you think that you can't be the ruler of this village, Naruto-chan? I think you'd make a great leader with training!" Ayame said enthusiastically, hating the look on her self-proclaimed baby brother's face. Ever since the boy had started coming here she couldn't get enough of him. He was just so cute to leave alone. One time Ayame went from behind the counter, sat on a stool, picked up Naruto, sat the boy on her lap, and fed the boy his ramen. _

_Cute boys like Naruto should be cherished not scorned._

"_I won't be able to pass that stupid exam by the looks of it." Naruto complained. A shadow was casted over Yoshirou's eyes, his experience clearly showing. The man remembered his own time in the academy, and all the highs and lows learning his trade brought for him. He could remember well enough how some of his more unfortunate friends/fellow classmates failed the exam due to a particular reason._

"_Oh Naruto-chan. You should have more faith in yourself. I betcha if you believed in yourself more you could easily pass the exam no problemo!" Ayame told him optimistically. _

"_I dunno," Naruto frowned increasingly, causing Ayame to pout at him while Yoshirou sat down next to him. Naruto looked at the old man once he placed his hand on his shoulder. _

"_Do you believe you won't be able to graduate because of your inability to be perform the Bunshin no Jutsu?" Yoshirou asked to Naruto's shock._

"_Yeah, but how did ya know that old man?" Naruto asked. _

_Yoshirou smiled sagely, "I'll have ya know I was once your age too sunny-boy. I've seen many aspiring shinobi weeping because they couldn't perform the Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruto scrunched up his face in exasperation._

"_But why can't I perform such a stupid ass jutsu? I'm the great Naruto-sama for crying out loud!" Naruto cried out haughtily, Ayame cooing at her baby brother's arrogance which she thought was really adorable. _

_Yoshirou crossed his arms and took on a thoughtful look of an veteran warrior who seen far too many battles, "Well, sunny-boy, those who struggle with the Bunshin no Jutsu are conveniently, in your case, more prominent."_

"_Whaddya mean by that old geezer?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face. _

"_Chakra."_

"_Chakra?"_

"_Yes. The Bunshin no Jutsu only requires a pinch of chakra to do, those with massive amounts of chakra find it increasingly difficult to manipulate a little bit of their chakra to pull off a jutsu which takes a minimum amount of chakra to perform. They usually end up overloading their clones, resulting in it looking all deformed. Not a pretty sight indeed sunny-boy." Yoshirou explained to the arrogant-boy, Naruto's eyes widening with hope filling them. _

"_You mean I have a big supply of chakra old man and that's why I can't do the stupid Bunshin no Jutsu?"_

"_That's the gist of it."_

"_Badass! I knew I was awesome. The great Naruto-sama is above y'all!"_

"_Oh Naruto-chan! I always knew you were special." Ayame chimed in, reaching over the counter to kiss Naruto on his nose to which the haughty boy pouted at her, causing her to kiss him again in a cheeky manner. Teuchi laughed at the boy who tried to wipe away the kisses his daughter had given him._

_Once the kisses Ayame had placed on Naruto were gone a look of annoyance was on his face as Ayame grinned cheekily at him, licking her lips as if saying she was just waiting for another chance to smack a kiss on him. _

_Naruto turned to the old man with a helpless expression on his face, "So old geezer how do you suppose I control my 'catra' or whatever better to do that damned Bunshin no Jutsu?"_

"_Don't the academy instructors teach you about chakra control and concentration sunny-boy?" Yoshirou asked Naruto, finding a frown making its way to Naruto's face. _

"_Sheesh. No! All Iruka-sensei bitches about is me, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji dozing off 'cause we lack concentration, yadda, yadda, I ain't no professor, damn it! I'm a ninja! But no, he wants me to hold some stupid ass leaf on my head and whatnot!" Naruto ranted wittily, the old man looking at him disappointingly to what he summed up as Naruto's laziness to not want to do the tedious work to enhance his chakra control._

"_Naruto-chan!" Ayame scolded the boy for his use of language._

"_What? It's true Ayame-neechan!" Naruto whined._

"_Even so, there's no need to curse so much." Ayame chided the boy, making Teuchi hum an impressed noise at the way she handled her surrogate baby brother. Naruto pouted. _

"_Fine." Naruto backed down grumpily, causing a victorious smile to spread across Ayame's face before Naruto stared at the old man who had a look of contemplation on his old wrinkly face. "So, old man, you can see my problem here. Right?"_

"_You require assistance in gaining some semblance of control over your chakra?" Yoshirou asked._

"_Right! I hope to have just enough control of my great power so I can perform a couple of badass techniques!" Naruto chirped excitedly, Ayame gigging at his optimistic attitude. "So you think you could help me get better old man?"_

"_I could." Yoshirou agreed to which got Naruto hopeful. "Only on one condition though."_

"_Oh. Well Okay. What's the condition?" Naruto asked. He would accept any condition if it meant getting his own personal trainer to assist him in getting stronger to prove to all the douchebags, except his beautiful sister Ayame, Teuchi, and Hiruzen the Hokage, that he could make something out of himself and gain their acknowledgement._

"_You have to be fully dedicated to my training program. No lacking off you hear me? For I only have patience for those who want to be winners, and not losers, sunny-boy. If you're gonna step under my wing, then I don't want to hear any bellyaching from you no matter how intense the training gets. You must be willing to put your heart and soul into every exercise I set for you. Is that understood?" Yoshirou dished out seriously._

_Naruto stared at the old man in shock, suddenly feeling butterflies in his stomach at the man's change in demeanour from a laid back old man to a sudden strict dude at the tip of a hat. But the boy would swallow his nerves if it meant he could get stronger to become the Hokage and gain the acknowledgement of the villagers._

"_Yes." Naruto assured resolutely, and Yoshirou smiled proudly at him. _

"_Then we celebrate your apprenticeship to me with two bowls of ramen." _

"_Alright! You're the best old man ever! Hey, other old man, two bowls of your finest barbecue pork ramen! It's on him!"_

"_Haha!" Yoshirou laughed._

"_Coming right up, Naruto-kun!"_

"_I can't wait to see how strong my Naruto-chan will be once he graduates."_

"_Really strong, and that's a promise Ayame-neechan!"_

_Ayame smiled at Naruto. She didn't have any doubt in her mind that Naruto would become a truly splendid shinobi._

XxX

"Naruto, wake up!"

"Aaaaaaah!" A twelve year old Naruto screamed instinctually. Opening his eyes, he realized he was outside in a hallway sitting on one of three seats with a pink haired girl angrily glaring at him for some reason while a black haired boy stood up in front of him with a look of annoyance on his face.

Twelve year old Naruto's attire was very much changed since he met his perverted tutor and surrogate grandfather Yoshirou. He now wore a white vest top underneath an orange dress shirt which had a red swirl mark neatly embedded on the back of the shirt, blue jeans, a kunai holster on his right leg, a pair of orange sunglasses over his eyes, and orange sandals on his feet.

He had trained immensely since that day. He didn't have a choice. His master was very strict when it came to his training and always made sure he trained until he could sweat no more. It wasn't until a week in his training when he came across his surrogate brother, another lone-wolf of Konoha. For his own reasons, the boy allowed Yoshirou to take him under his wing and turn him into a strong ninja. Naruto felt jealous of his brother, because he seemed to advance further in his training.

Sometimes Naruto believed that his master shown favouritism toward his brother, because he taught him more stylish taijutsu-styles while just being a guiding light for Naruto to follow. When questioned by Naruto of this, Yoshirou informed him that he himself was more comparable with his brother than Naruto, to which made Naruto exasperated until Yoshirou promised him he'd do everything in his power to see to it that Naruto didn't fall behind his brother.

Yoshirou, to his credit, seemingly kept to his word since Naruto doggedly trained as hard as he could to keep up with his adoptive brother.

But despite his envy of his brother's ridiculous growth rate Naruto loved him like the brother he never had.

"Oh. Hey, Sasuke-chan. You finished the exam already?" Naruto asked his adoptive brother, Sasuke Uchiha of the nearly extinct Uchiha clan barring two members, one of which wasn't even living within the high walls of Konohagakure no Sato, so that made Sasuke the last loyal Uchiha of Konoha.

"Hmph." Sasuke let out. Sasuke was a boy who had black spiky hair and onyx coloured eyes. He wore a white vest top underneath a black dress shirt that had his clan's symbol of a white and red fan embedded on the back of the shirt, black posh trousers, black sandals, a kunai holster on his right leg, and a gold chain wrapped around his neck. Most noticeable item on Sasuke's person which caught Naruto's eye since he was sure Sasuke didn't have it on him before he disappeared into the classroom was a blue headband clutched in Sasuke's grip.

The headband had a silver template stitched onto it with a leaf insignia engraved into the middle of the template.

Sasuke held up his headband in calm indifference. "Pay attention. I went in there for a minute and already you were fast asleep the time I got out."

"Really? Hehe. Guess I got bored bouncing anxiously for you to finish so I could go in here already, dattebayo. Hey, how long were you in for anyway, Sasuke-chan?" Naruto questioned his adoptive brother.

"Don't know." Sasuke shrugged. "Thirty seconds, maybe."

"Damn that quick eh." Naruto grinned, rubbing his nostrils with his index finger, standing up and stretching out his sore limbs from the intensive training his master put him and Sasuke through, "The old fart needs to loosen the screws on our training regimes! I can barely damn near walk much less run after getting through one of 'em torture sessions, dattebayo!"

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

"Sasuke-chan doesn't struggle doing easy push-ups, Naruto-san!" The pink haired girl screeched in defence of her crush. Two green sexy orbs narrowed dangerously at Naruto, long exotic pink hair fall to her back, and a blue headband was neatly wrapped over her head to show off her beautiful abnormal forehead. A red dress with a white circle on it fell just past the girl's knees, underneath the dress was a pair of biker shorts to save her decency in case a sneaky someone had the boldness to lift up her dress, a pair of blue sandals was on her feet and a kunai holster was wrapped around her smooth left leg.

"Hn."

"Guess so," Naruto smirked, a glint of mischievousness shining in his eye. 'If Sakura-chan thinks the old fart's _real _training regime's that easy, then she's in for a world of surprise with her good-looking self,' Naruto thought. The opening of the door directed the duo of newly fresh ninjas and would-be one to it.

A head of brown spiky hair poked itself out of the door, "Naruto Uzumaki! Please step into the examination room this instant! It's your turn to take the exam." The man had tan skin with a scar running across the bridge of his nose and his hair was tied back in a ponytail. The leaf headband was proudly displayed on his forehead along with his green flaked jacket, navy blue pants, a kunai holster on his right leg, and blue sandals on his feet.

Naruto rolled his arm in a circular motion, "I hear ya loud and clear, Iruka. I betcha can't wait until I'm outta your hair, right dude?"

"You couldn't be more right." Iruka deadpanned, having got many mind-grains caused by the insolent boy's trouble-making ways. Naruto wouldn't even call him sensei since Naruto had long time surpassed him in all categories, but even still he was proud of Naruto for making it this far like he was with the rest of Naruto's year group.

Iruka sighed with a smile on his features, "Hurry up, Naruto. We don't have all day now." Iruka walked into the classroom leaving the door to the classroom open.

"Roger." Naruto grinned, looking at Sakura which made the newly promoted kuroichi scoff cutely, fold her arms over her chest, and turn away from the boy, "You gonna wish me luck Sakura-chan?"

"I'm not talking to you until you grow up, Naruto-san!" Sakura yelled indignantly, blinking once Naruto disappeared as if he wasn't even there.

A cold breeze penetrated the back of Sakura's legs, letting her know exactly where Naruto had chosen to sprint to, and raging furiously at his decision to go there since he did it to her every day since turning eleven.

That was lifting up her dress and complimenting her rear-end.

"But you just spoke to me moments before Sakura-chan." Naruto quipped, his hand holding up the back of Sakura's dress while the girl fumed, fists clenching so tight her nails threatened to break her skin. Naruto's eyes lecherously enjoyed the view of Sakura's ass, despite the misfortune of her biker shorts being in the way, "Speaking of growing up, is it just me or did you get a nice ass?"

The sound of skin colliding against skin sounded out through the air, making Sasuke sigh in exasperation while Sakura raged mightily, 'Stupid old man.' Sasuke blamed his and Naruto's perverted sensei for why Naruto became such a pervert. Children, especially ones who didn't have a parent or family to begin with, will often copy those around them because they believed it was the cool thing to do.

It also didn't help that Yoshirou encouraged Naruto and Sasuke to embrace their perverted natures.

"You pervert!" Sakura screamed, spinning around to slap Naruto, but the boy effortlessly dodged her, laughing goofily as he slowly advanced toward the classroom, "Come back here and take your beating like a man Naruto-san!" Naruto's response was to casually hightail it into the classroom, leaving Sakura fuming to Sasuke, "He's always behaving like this, never improving!"

Sasuke chuckled a little as a smirk came to his face.

"Yeah. I doubt he'll ever change."

XxX

As Naruto danced on into the wide room with brown tiled flooring, he grinned in mocked innocence at seeing the exasperated look on Iruka's face as he sat next to a meekly looking white haired, pale-skinned man known as Mizuki who was clad in the same uniform as Iruka. Both of the chunin instructors were sat in front of a desk with multiple leaf village headbands all lined up for any would-be genin lucky enough to pass the examination.

"Sup Iruka, are the kiddings bugging ya again?" Naruto asked cheekily.

"You know what's bothering me, so don't get smart with me Naruto." Iruka commanded sternly, Naruto droning while blinking his eyes in faked confusion.

"Not sure I know what you mean doc." Naruto's grin turned outright toothily, his front teeth visible to Iruka and Mizuki. Iruka groaned, massaging his temples with his two fingers. Seriously, he was happy for the boy, really he was, since in a way Naruto reminded him a little bit of himself when he was his age, but his constant trolling could be irritating.

"Oh really, because Sakura-san screaming says otherwise Naruto," Iruka challenged, not wanting to give in to the jokester that was Naruto and admit that the jokester had him annoyed because he would just come back in his spare time and do it all over again. It didn't help his cause knowing that Naruto was stronger than him like two of the boy's fellow delinquents in Kiba and Chouji, and his brother Sasuke. Honestly, how do three slackers surpass him when only one of Iruka's upstanding students with a perfect attendance surpassed him.

The others were close to Iruka's level but only Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, and Chouji had exceeded him due to their specialty in speed and strength. And only one of them actually came into the academy while the rest came kept on skipping class with the other delinquent-boy known as Shikamaru.

Naruto's face displayed shock, his mouth opening wide, and his hands clamping onto the sides of his whiskered cheeks, "Really? Someone made Sakura-chan scream?" At this, a feral smirk crossed his features, "Well I guess it's that day of the week again, eh." Naruto quipped with a look on his face which just begged Iruka and Mizuki to take the bait.

Iruka resisted the temptation for both him and Mizuki but the latter could see that the former was straining to do so as the seconds which felt like hours to them ticked on, while Naruto just grinned at them. Eventually, the white haired man let out a sigh and decided to bite.

"Okay, what day of the we-."

"Garbage day, bitch!" Naruto roared energetically, cutting off Mizuki who sheepishly smiled at Iruka who had veins all over his face complete with a twitching eyebrow, "Hehe. Anyone who bothers Sakura-chan has already booked themselves an appointment to see the doctor of pain. Dattebayo."

Iruka sighed in frustration. He knew that Naruto and his family were good friends with Sakura and her family after the boy had protected her from a couple of bullies when they were younger.

"Oh give him a break Iruka-kun. It is his last day, and besides, I think it's nice how he wants to look after his friends," Mizuki cut the blond rude-boy some slack to which got him a thumbs-up from Naruto, but a shake of the head from Iruka.

"You're too soft Mizuki-kun," Iruka said, causing his dear friend from their childhood to smile in awkwardness at him. Iruka coughed twice into his hand, regaining his composure to point at the set of headbands on the table. "Anyway, Naruto, you must perform three clones in order to gain your headband and become a leaf shinobi of Konoha." Iruka sent a look at Naruto, masking his worry with a stern look. Out of all the basic techniques Iruka taught to his former students, he knew this one was not Naruto's forte.

Throughout his time in the academy, he was the only one who couldn't perform it. He honestly doubted that Naruto could pull it off today of all days.

"Yeah, whatever," Naruto groused lackadaisically, still hating this cursed jutsu despite his years of training underneath a retired jonin of Konoha. Luckily, he had an ace in the hole for this moment.

As Naruto adjusted himself in a stance, both of his legs spread apart like a cowboy while he held his hands up in the ram-sign, he missed the malevolent smirk which crossed the seemingly good-natured Mizuki's face.

'There's no way the demon-brat will be able to do such a simple jutsu. He lacks the talent for it. Hehe. He'll be my piece to use once this is all over.' Mizuki managed to keep his humble façade under wraps by breathing deeply, as if he were really worried for Naruto not successfully making three illusions of himself to pass the exam and become a ninja of Konoha.

"Ahhhhh." Naruto flared up his chakra, an aura of blue blazing around his body, causing his hair and clothes to waver like a mini fan had been switched on, "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**." Immediate shock expressions of the highest caliber found their ways to Mizuki and Iruka's faces, as they simultaneously yelled out –

"WHAT?!"

Smoke erupted from Naruto, concealing his view from the two stunned instructors.

'H-How? It's not possible! There's no way the fox-child could have a jutsu of that… magnitude.' Mizuki mused, gaping at the scene like Iruka. Once the smoke cleared up, three solid clones of Naruto were among the original all smirking and giving the chunin-instructors peace-signs.

"How low can I go?" A Naruto, probably the real one, asked in a haughtily manner, confusing Mizuki.

"Wha-?"

"'Cause I slithered underneath that loophole!" All three Narutos shouted cheerfully, a smile coming to Iruka's face at the ingenious thinking of Naruto to get around his weakest jutsu by learning a stronger version of it.

"Well I'll be damned. So you actually figured out a way to pass, good work Naruto," Iruka praised, making Naruto and his clones smirk while Mizuki gawked at him.

"Iruka you can't be serious! With all due respect the other academy students all made three illusions, not solid clones of themselves; it isn't fair to the others." Mizuki argued his point. No, the demon-child couldn't pass. He needed him for his plans, Naruto just had to fail. For him!

"Huh? Has your noggin turned to mincemeat or something? I can't do the Bunshin no Jutsu, I have too much chakra for that. Me attempting to do the Bunshin no Jutsu is like filling up a tiny cup with a big bottle of coke." Naruto quipped to Mizuki's ever growing annoyance. "It's just not gonna happen 'cause you'd just end up overfilling the tiny cup with coke, thus spilling it over and making a mess."

'Clever dick.' Mizuki growled internally, struggling not to gnash his teeth at the smart-mouthed boy.

"Besides, the rules of the exam are stated as, 'one must make three _clones _to pass'. It doesn't specifically state which kind of clones a student has to make in order to pass the exam." Iruka said in defence of Naruto using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu as a substitute for its weaker counterpart.

"But Iru-."

"Give it a rest will ya." Naruto said, surprising Mizuki and Iruka as he surged next to the desk faster than anyone of them could blink. Naruto grinned smugly at the gawks on Iruka's and Mizuki's faces from seeing his speed before he grabbed a headband off of the table and casually lifted it off of the table. "You should be rejoicing man. The Show-off, Number One Unpredictable, Noisy Ninja Naruto Uzumaki is finally outta the house."

"Well I guess that's one positive thing to look at." Iruka smiled while Naruto nodded, pivoting on his heels to bounce goofily out of the room, "Wait Naruto! Before you go, could you tell us how you were able to master a B-rank jutsu in the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It's a dangerous jutsu, not something a newly promoted genin should be wielding."

"Old man Hokage will fill ya in on the details," Naruto promised, not ceasing his stride and sounding very much like he didn't care. His word made an incredulous expression appear on Mizuki's face as he didn't quite believe that Hokage-sama would give the boy such a jutsu in order for him to pass the exam.

"Hokage-sama? Naruto, what do you mean by Hokage-sama will explain everything to us? Surely you can't be telling us that Hokage-sama gave you the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu just so you could make it to genin-rank. That's preposterous!" Mizuki stressed.

"Preposterous? Tell that to my ass, 'cause it's the only one who gives a shit." Naruto quipped with a casual wave of his hand over his shoulder, receiving a flinch from Mizuki before the boy sauntered out of the class.

"That Naruto, he really thought outside of the box to pass this exam." Iruka said to Mizuki with a smile on his face while the chunin in question mentally stressed, "Wouldn't you agree Mizuki-kun?" Mizuki let out a gasp, seemingly forgetting that Iruka was talking to him. He quickly straightened his composure.

"Yeah. He's full of surprises."

XxX

As Naruto waltzed on out of the classroom with his newly required headband and hands stuffed into his pockets, his monkey instincts alerted him to the danger closing in on his left side. Fast. His hand shot up, effortlessly ensnaring the smooth leg with a wonderful fragrance coming off of it as if it were child's play.

"You gotta step your game up, Sakura-chan, if you wanna nail me." Naruto jeered, turning his head to the side to see a pouting Sakura with her leg still up from the kick she had attempted to hammer Naruto with since the boy still had a firm grip on her beautiful leg.

"Shut up, dummy! I told you that I'd beat some sense into your block head!" Sakura yelled and Naruto chortled. Sakura flinched as she began to feel a tingle run up her leg, warming up her leg like igniting two sticks by rubbing them together, "Stop feeling up my leg, pervert!" Sakura demanded, struggling to shake off Naruto's lewd massage by hopping up and down, and wriggling her hips to the side.

"Whoa, hold still Sakura-chan." Naruto simply released his hold on Sakura's leg, causing the girl to fall onto her backside from the momentum of trying to break free from Naruto's hold and suddenly finding her leg free without having broken the hold. "Woops. You okay, Sakura-chan?"

"Jerk." Sakura mumbled, rubbing her rear-end while Sasuke sighed from where he sat patiently on one of the seats waiting for Naruto to hurry up and pass.

"Hey, what'd I do? You were the one hopping around like a one-legged lady, Sakura-chan." Sakura glared angrily at Naruto's cheeky grin, Sasuke caressing his forehead in annoyance as he stood up to his feet and tucked his hands into his pockets.

"Hn. I'm guessing Iruka and Mizuki were shocked to see your use of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, eh Naruto." The stoic Uchiha said and Naruto rubbed his nostrils with his index finger while the pink haired kuroichi hopped to her feet with her hands on her hips.

"You may have the reserves to make all those clones, Naruto-san, but Sasuke-chan and I have the control that you don't have. So there." Sakura stuck her tongue out at Naruto.

"Who cares? I may be able to use my killer jutsus less, but that's minor, 'cause they pack enough power in 'em to make things go ka-boom!" Naruto resorted cheerfully, folding his arms behind his head.

"Well I guess that's true." Sakura agreed, "You know something, you can be pretty awesome when you want to be Naruto-san. Way to go learning such a high ranking jutsu. I wouldn't have believed you could obtain a jutsu like that if I didn't see it for myself," Sakura sighed, "I guess I underestimated you."

"Awww, shucks, Sakura-chan. It's nuthin' that the great Naruto-sama couldn't accomplish. Haha. I'm one step closer to owning this village! Old man Hokage will be getting his ass booted off of his throne in no time at all!" Naruto declared thunderously, Sakura frowning at the boy's arrogance.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

"Yeah Sasuke-chan, what is it man?" Naruto asked.

"Time to roll." Sasuke told his brother-in-training calmly.

"Home? Alright! The old geezer said he'll treat us to ramen if we both passed the graduation exam! And we did!" Naruto grinned widely, "I can't wait to show him our headbands!" Naruto pulled out his headband. "He's gonna be so proud of us." Naruto giggled at the prospect of gaining his master's praise. "Oh, and maybe he can stitch this leaf template onto an orange cloth, 'cause orange is a badass colour."

"Hn. I only need mine sewed onto a black one since I wear mostly black clothing." Sasuke said. "Blue would look out of place on me." A light bulb appeared on Sakura's head as she rushed up to Sasuke with a bright pink tinge on her cheeks, holding her hands together.

"Oh I can do that for you Sasuke-chan." Sakura blushed.

Sasuke looked at the girl with a lifted eyebrow, but Sakura only offered a nod of verification to let him know she would do that for him to gain his recognition. So, Sasuke, needing his template stitched on a black cloth regardless of who did it for him, shrugged his shoulders, "Okay."

Sakura squealed joyously, "Hurrah!" Sakura eagerly took Sasuke's headband off of him once the boy brought it out of his pocket and handed it to her, "Thank you Sasuke-chan! I promise you I won't let you down! I'll see to it that this is returned to you by tomorrow, shannaro!"

"See to it that you do." Sasuke suggested. Sakura nodded her head and happily skipped off down the hall-way, on cloud nine that she could do something to make her prince charming happy, "Hn. Come." Sasuke said to his brother, turning to him and gaining a look of annoyance on his face from the teasing look on Naruto's face, "Tch. What are you looking at?"

"Oh 'nuthin much, just that you like girls."

"Tch, spare me the melodramatics, like I have time to waste on fan-girls."

Sasuke begin what would eventually be his and Naruto stride home leaving the boy grinning to himself for a brief moment.

"Whatever you say, Sasuke-chan."


	5. Ichigo and Yuzu

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach **

* * *

><p><strong>The Reliance of Oneself: Journey of a Lone-Wolf<strong>

The darkness of the night was lit up by the many street lights of Karakura Town. Up above it would mesmerize people watching the majestic lights offer their guidance to the civilians of Karakura Town and show them a clear path to their destination. A lady, above all else, stood out on the tall lamp post calmly observing the town as if she was its swore protector.

"The night feels so calm and gives off a tranquillity feeling even as beings with skull-shaped masks stalk their prey hoping to complete their evolution. This is where a shinigami comes in; warriors of a higher plateau, assigned to this small town to assure its people don't get devoured by hollows."

The petite woman with her longish black hair coming to her shoulders, a strand of her hair hanging in between her violet eyes, leaped elegantly from the lamp-post as if she were an angel wearing a black shihakusho held closed by a white obi tied around her waist, wooden sandals on her feet, and a katana sheathed to her hip.

"I feel its presence."

**Chapter One **

**Do What You Want – Whenever You Want **

Tobacco smoke flowed smoothly up to the sky from a four story high building known as Karakura High School. The smoke was coming from the very highest place that was the rooftop, and it was being smoked by a tallish boy with bright spiky orange hair and hazel eyes holding the coldness of that of a veteran warrior.

His attire consisted of a black dress shirt which was tucked into his black trousers; both were complemented by a pair of black shoes on his feet and sunglasses of the same colour over his hazel eyes. His back rested casually against the wall of Karakura High School's rooftop while the cigarette hung loosely from his index and middle fingers, both of which formed a scissors-shape so the boy could smoke his cigarette better.

Most noticeable item on the boy would happen to be the strange silver-coloured cross dangling from his right wrist and what appeared to be a kendo stick of sorts since he was holding something neatly concealed in a brown bag tied at both ends in his free hand. Whatever was in his grip, it was what made the boy truly shine.

"Bored." The boy groaned before inhaling more smoke from his cigarette. "Heh. Perhaps those heartless bitches will provide a worthy challenge for me after school." And the delinquent-boy wasn't exactly talking about the other hoodlums around town since he'd already turned them (most of them) black and blue. No. He was referring to the creatures that could be considered the devil's minions, all of which wanted to absorb him into their beings to gain his power.

It was partly the reason why he chose to live on his own and rely only on himself, because this was the kind of boy he was. He was a loner, a lone-wolf, swore to carry his own burdens and even others if the need arises. He was very strong-willed and honourable in that sense.

The orange haired boy was broken out of his musings by the turning of the doorknob.

He didn't blink an eye as the door came open and in walked a bespectacled boy of average-height with dark blue hair falling to his shoulders, two bangs of his hair framed his oval-shaped face and he wore a white dress shirt complete with a blue and yellow striped tie around his neck, grey trousers keeping his shirt neatly tucked in them, a pair of brown shoes on his feet, and a black business bag dangling from his shoulder completed the boy's appearance.

The orange spiky haired boy sucked his teeth cheekily, his head banging against the wall in exasperation, "Tch. Did the teachers send you scurrying up here Uryu?"

The boy, Uryu Ishida, turned to look at the orange haired boy before correcting his glasses, "What do you think?" He got nothing other than smoke blowing upward from the kid's mouth after the boy had released his inhale. "I hardly think your father would want you skipping class, do you Kurosaki?"

"Like I care." The Kurosaki descendant murmured grumpily.

"Hmph. You should care. You disgrace the honour of the Quincy by acting like a run of the mill hoodlum." Uryu told his cousin. He took great pride in his race and believed his cousin should do the same. He began to resent him all the more once the boy declared his desire to rely solely on his aura, (the power in use known as reiatsu), against any hollow foolish enough to challenge him.

The boy exclaimed the Quincy-way of fighting didn't suit him. There was only one technique the kid liked and that was only because it allowed him to move at speeds invisible to the naked eye. Ichigo was his name and speed was his game. But in despite of his personal gripe he had with his Quincy powers, Ichigo still was one… just not a pure bloodied one. He held the proof of his Quincy-heritage on his right wrist as did Uryu.

"Argh, not this speech again," Ichigo grumbled. "You're just jealous 'cause I whoop your ass every time we spar, cuz."

Uryu fixed his glasses, "The phrase you were looking for is 'gain the upper hand over me due to the slight advantage in the absurd amount of reiatsu (spiritual pressure) you have. It enables you to fight like a wild animal rather than a grace of a highly skilled warrior, Kurosaki. And it's _because _and _cousin. _Please refrain from using such words in my presence. Such words are the sign of a common riff-raff, truly unbefitting of a Quincy."

A scowl of annoyance sat itself on Ichigo's face at his cousin's condescending explanation. He always had to make himself feel superior in some-way even when he knew deep down he was inferior to Ichigo and his huge reserves of reiatsu he obtained from a combination of his blood through his parents and years of intensive training.

Ichigo could haughtily say with gusto that his reserves were on a S-class level. Unfortunately, he would have to tone down his arrogance to confess that he had high B-class or low A-class control of his power, but day by day he was working on improving that.

"Whatever." Ichigo groused.

Uryu held his nose in the air, "Hmph. I don't have all day standing around speaking to ungrateful and ignorant 'warriors' whom don't know the superior strength of the Quincy, you ought to know. Are you coming along to class or not?" The bangs of Ichigo's hair shadowed his eyes.

"Does it matter to you Mister-Know-It-All?"

"Point taken." Uryu declared as he spun around to head back out of the door, "Just don't hate on me because my intelligence is infinitely higher than yours, Kurosaki. As shown on the school test results. Who was ranked highest again?" Ichigo let the silence answer Uryu's question, "Thought so. Do me a favour and stay out of my way. The last thing I need is a hoodlum with a subpar intelligence level slowing me down in all aspects." With that Uryu trotted off in all his haughtiness, missing the comical angry face Ichigo made at him as if he was mimicking him.

"That guy really grinds my gears," Ichigo growled savagely to himself. Uryu Ishida was up there on Ichigo's list of most hated people… family or not. He wasn't particularly fond of Uryu's father either, but he did what he felt was necessary after _that _day, six years ago from today. It changed him for the better if you asked Ichigo.

He saw the world in a different light and discovered it wasn't a happy place where peace reigned supreme. Honestly, peace didn't freaking exist in this monster littered world. This was a world where the weak got eaten and only the strongest survived. With such fiendish creatures crawling around Karakura Town it was of no wonder why Ichigo chose the training he endured under the guidance of his uncle.

Especially when one considered the fact Ichigo was almost the cause of such a tragedy.

"I'm outta here." Ichigo groused, not wanting to think of the memories of his past. The memories which made him into the boy, the extremely powerful boy, he was as of today, "I don't need work and school in the same day," Ichigo finished the last bit of his cigarette, dropping the bud, stepping on it with his foot nonchalantly, and walking out of the door leading to the rooftop of his school.

XxX

And out of school Ichigo went as the boy rubbed his neck in a tired manner, "Tch. School. What a waste of my time." Ichigo simply made his trek through the busy streets of Karakura Town, occasionally stopping to buy himself a can of soda and a bar of chocolate from the shop.

He only stopped again once he found himself walking through an alleyway littered with graffiti on the walls, and a group of older boys who attended the high school not too far away from Karakura High School all looking at him with smirks on their faces.

"Kurosaki! We've been waiting for you. We wanna rematch with you!" One of the delinquents shouted while cracking his knuckles, his nine friends all doing likewise as they nodded their heads in agreement with him.

A look of annoyance was on Ichigo's face. "Shouldn't the trash-men be doing this shit?" Ichigo quipped irritatingly and the hoodlums fumed.

"We'll see how cool you are after we mess you up!" A boy assured and the others roared in agreement with him. The boys then charged Ichigo while roaring belligerently, thunderously making the noise equivalent to that of an elephant stampede echo throughout the air due to the loudness of their charge toward Ichigo.

Ichigo chucked his brown bag up in the air, "Let's get this over with." Vanishing speedily, Ichigo reappeared in front of the delinquents with his arm thrown over his shoulder and his leg held back. It took little more than a second for the frozen faced boys to register the immense pain they had received which sent them launching into the air while screaming painstakingly.

Ichigo stood up, dusting himself off composedly. His hand then reached upward where he caught his brown bag with the skill of a swordsman, "As if you fools ever had a chance against me."

The teenagers groaned in pain after crashing on the floor with a resounding thud, "He's strong." One of them wailed while the others just whimpered. Ichigo sauntered away from them as if he had never even been there in the first place.

As Ichigo rounded couple of more corners, hopped on two buses using his bus pass, he eventually started nearing Bowery, a cheap area where guys like him go to live because they were too poor to live anyway else. The haughty boy didn't even flinch upon entering a dirty alleyway, and hearing a gravelly voice echoing from the walls.

"**Hmm. Mmm. Look what we have here boys, a tasty meal already made for us to feast on." **

"**Indeed. I believe I'm gonna enjoy snacking on him."**

"**Don't get greedy now, brother. You should share him with the rest of us."**

Ichigo watched stoically while three creatures with white skull-shaped masks on their faces, coal blackened skins, bodies shaped in the form of ghosts, and holes where their hearts should be wandered out of the shadows. The beings had no sclera or even pupils, but instead their eyes gave off the appearance of two black holes which gleamed a blood red colour in them.

"Guess I could do with a stress relief." Ichigo said, setting himself in a stance with his brown bag held in front of himself.

The creatures thought he was having a laugh since there was no way a mere human could defeat them, "**Haha! As if a mere human could defeat us hollows. You'll be a part of our beings soon enough you foolish human."**

"Aww. What's wrong?" Ichigo mocked with a smirk on his face. "Don't hollows go after their most cherish people they made during the times when they were alive? What happened? Did mama not love ya enough?" That was true.

Ichigo had that info broken down to him by his old man. Hollows were once earth bound spirits who couldn't pass on for one reason or the next and ended up becoming a hollow after their Chains of Fate eventually withered away into nothing or other hollows devoured them, thus turning them into hollows.

From there the spirits-turned-hollows would rummage through the World of the Living in search of the people they loved most before becoming what they were to fill the emptiness in their hearts.

The hollows were furious at Ichigo's taunting, "**Don't you dare mock us you disgusting human!"**

Ichigo chuckled unmercifully, preceding to further angrier the hollows, "**DON'T LAUGH AT US, YOU HUMAN! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! YOU'RE NOTHING TO US, BUT OUR MEAL! GET THAT STRAIGHT!" **One of the hollows bellowed at Ichigo, charging at the cocky warrior. A powerful breeze shot past the hollow, followed by a shower of blood and an inhuman arm flying through the air.

"**Aaaaaaaahhhh**!" The hollow roared as it fell to its knees, leaving its brothers speechless. Both of them had dropped jaws before quickly pinpointing Ichigo's location. The orange haired boy stood off at the side with a samurai sword of average-length in his grip, the hilt was shaped like a dragon and the silver blade itself had the kanji-markings for "one who protects" embedded across it.

"**You!" **One of the two remaining hollows growled hatefully at Ichigo.

"Me." Ichigo said as if he hadn't essentially cut down the hollow's brother in cold blood. It was still alive but only barely, "Not even warmed-up yet. Heh. How disappointing…"

The hollows were shaking with fury at being toyed with by a mere _human! _Not even a disgusting shinigami; it was a _human _for crying out loud. There was no way a _human _could have this kind of immense _power! _No! They wouldn't believe it! This _thing _before them was not a human! _It _must have been some kind of entity.

"**I don't know what you are but you're not a human. No human could possess your kind of immense power! You hear me!" **The other hollow roared.

A cocky grin spread itself across Ichigo's features, "Bingo. Give the geniuses a prize for hitting the nail on the head. Heh." Ichigo quipped, slamming one leg forward while adjusting the other one backward. His samurai sword was shoved outward in his right grip, his left arm held above his head.

"**You were right brother. He isn't a human. Then just what is he?" **The hollow asked its brother only to get a look of shock on its face as an aura of green powerfully shrouded Ichigo's body, cracking the walls venomously while the ground underneath his feet shattered as if the earth couldn't sustain the weight of Ichigo.

"**W-What is this power?" **One of the hollows stammered, seeing what appeared to be a dragon entity taking shape around Ichigo. The boy opened up his eyes, showing them the change in colour. His sclera was green with no visible pupils, just like the powerful spirit coming forth from his body of his will.

"**Mokushiroku no Inshō-Tekina Ryū (Striking Dragon of the Apocalypse)**," Ichigo announced, unleashing an unfinished version of his most destructive attack to date on the hollows so he wouldn't end up eradicating them from existence and annihilating a building or two in the process. The hollows screamed as the dragon-entity conjured up by Ichigo's power stream-rolled through them, tearing their bodies asunder while releasing a cry of terror before flying into the sky, and roofing it apart.

"Hmph. They go down like cockroaches." Ichigo whispered, seeing the hollows lifelessly drop onto the ground like two broken toys, "Heh. I feel somewhat better if only slightly. Still I'd have much preferred it if they actually put up a fight." Such was the burden of being classed as a low A-class warrior.

There was barely anyone on his level capable of giving him a good fight.

"Halt hollow in the name of the Soul Society!" Ichigo turned an uninterested eye onto the voice of a commanding woman to see a cute girl dressed in a black shihakusho waving a katana with a white ribbon tied on the end of it. The pretty girl blinked her eyes, spotting the unconscious hollows on the ground but not quite believing what she was seeing, 'Is… this for real? How could three hollows of this magnitude be taken down so easily?'

The woman shifted her gaze to the orange haired boy holding a samurai sword in his grip, looking anywhere but in her direction, "Could he have done it?' The woman shook her head, "No. That's impossible. He's only a human. But then again, he has that sword in his grip, and the way he carries himself speaks volumes."

"You sure took your sweet time." Ichigo spoke out loud with the woman looking confused.

"Can he see me?" She asked herself. Her eyes blinked when the boy seemingly disappeared as if he had been a figure of her imagination.

"Y'know it's rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you, right?" The woman flinched and spun around to see Ichigo standing behind her holding his blade on his shoulder, a cocky smile forming across his face at seeing the shocked expression on her face from witnessing his speed.

The woman's eyes narrowed, "Who are you? You can obviously see me so that means you've got an exceptional amount of reiryoku?"

"Pushy, are we?" Ichigo trolled with a chuckle that made the woman growl at him.

"I asked you a question! What the hell are you and how did you manage to subdue those hollows?" The woman demanded.

"Hmph. Not one for manners, huh? Showing a little proper courtesy by introducing yourself first is generally a good way to meet people. But then again how would I know, I'm not exactly your most beloved guy," Ichigo admitted as if he didn't care that he had little to no friends.

"Fine." The woman relented calmly, "The name's Rukia Kuchiki. Judging by your reaction I take it you've heard of the Soul Society, otherwise known as Heaven to you humans."

"You could say I sniffed around for that info," Ichigo quipped vaguely, confusing Rukia.

"Now then, since I so kindly introduced myself to you, the least you could do is have the same politeness. It's _proper courtesy _after all." Rukia smirked at the scowl that came over Ichigo's face at having his own words thrown back into his face. The black haired girl danced elegantly over to the hollows, slashing their masks clean in half, which immediately made them dispense into small pieces of reishi.

"Ichigo, Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo groused coolly, not even blinking as he saw the woman purify those hollows.

Rukia sheathed her sword away in its scabbard beautifully, "You barely even batted an eyelash while I cleansed those hollows. Furthermore you have knowledge of the Soul Society and a high amount of reiatsu. So, do you mind spilling the beans and telling me who you are?" Rukia asked commandingly, her voice leaving no room for argument.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "Tch. If you dunno then I'm not gonna waste my time filling your empty noggin with useless info you won't even understand midget."

Rukia bristled at the cheeky boy, "How dare you! I'll have you know that I'm century years older than you. You better start showing me some respect. You got that bean pole?"

Ichigo gnashed his teeth, "Those are awfully big words for a dwarf."

"Just like how those words are funny and short words coming from the mouth of a bean pole!"

"Dwarf!"

"Bean pole!"

"Dwarf!"

"Bean pole!"

"Dwarf!"

"Bean pole!"

"Dwarf!"

"Bean pole!"

Ichigo felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. He had only just met this woman and already he hated her, "Whatever." Ichigo strolled over to his brown bag and lifted it up with his foot. He put his samurai sword back into the bag. He couldn't be asked to find the elastic bands he used to tighten the bag so he just left them and shifted his bag onto his shoulder.

"I'm outta here." Ichigo told her, beginning to walk away from the woman.

"Hey! Get back here. We're not done here yet!" Rukia shouted, still wanting to know what Ichigo was, but the rude-boy flipped her the-bird sign over his shoulder, "Okay. So we'll have to do this the hard-way." Rukia held her index and middle fingers up, closing her eyes and letting out a small chant, "**First Restraint Obstruction!"**

Ichigo froze mid step, his arms twisting behind his back after Rukia had shot her two fingers outward in his direction, "Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Ichigo grunted angrily, thrashing around to rid himself of the annoying pain on his arms.

"It's futile to resist my kido spell. Don't bother trying. You'll only be putting yourself in more pain." Rukia elucidated calmly. Her eyes widened as a green aura enveloped Ichigo's body, his arms slowly moving from behind his back. "Impossible! No ordinary human or warrior could break out of my kido spell!"

"Arghhhhh!" Ichigo roared, powering his way free via pure physical strength. His face twisted into a cranky expression, his sword coming out of his bag. Rukia hyperventilated, stepping back as the powerful enraged boy made his way toward her, "So you wanna play, eh little girl?" Ichigo's hand raised upwards, his sword in the air while his green aura covered his body once again.

Rukia looked on in fear of Ichigo's power, the weight of his reiatsu dropping on her shoulders slightly, "**Mokushiroku**-." Ichigo stopped himself from erasing Rukia's existence from this world. He could see Rukia hold her eyes shut while clenching her hands into fists as if she had accepted her death.

'Tch. So she doesn't want to rumble huh.' Then he wouldn't exterminate her since it wasn't the honourable thing to do. A true warrior desired a fair fight. They _did not _cold-heartedly slaughter a woman who had her eyes shut. No way, "I'm outta here… for real this time.

Rukia's eyes shot open, "What? Wai-?" Before she could finish her sentence Ichigo vanished as if he had teleported instantaneously, "Damn it. Was that a Shunpo? No. Its sound was different to that of a Shunpo." Rukia mused as she breathed in and out in relief, "This kid… a whole can of worms have been opened up now, because of him. Why'd he spare my life for when he could've quite easily slayed me?"

It hurt Rukia's pride as a shinigami to know a mere being living in the World of the Living could've eradicated her from existence. But even still she was determined to get to the bottom of the enigma that was Ichigo Kurosaki.

"I'll figure you out somehow, Ichigo Kurosaki."


	6. The Heir of Heihachi

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Tekken**

**Another random idea. This one is a Bleach infused with Tekken idea. Basically, instead of Masaki being a Quincy she's the daughter of the most ruthless man in all of the Tekken series, Heihachi Mishima, thus making Ichigo his grandson, because be honest with yourselves, who doesn't want to see Ichigo kick major ass as a badass devil with wings? It'll be awesome!**

* * *

><p><strong>The Chosen Heir <strong>

**Chapter one**

"…What just happened?"

A voice of young orange haired child rang out through the distant night, filled with curiously.

He stood near the riverbank dressed in a yellow rain coat over a beige-coloured karate Gi-top, with matching pants, complete with martial shoes on his feet. The yellow belt around his wrist showed his inexperience and that he was barely above average at best.

The boy felt a shadow loom over him, which caused him to gaze up. He felt further intrigued glancing at his mother whom he had inherited must of his features, like his distinctive orange hair. Hers was long and curly, falling to her mid-back. Her skin was a flawless peach, complimented by her pink-lipstick.

She sported a pink blouse along with a brown skirt that reached her ankles, and a pair of high heels on her feet.

"Mommy," The boy began, "How'd you get before me so fast?"

His mother appeared to be in debrief herself, "Mommy's not quite sure, Ichi-chan," The woman said with reluctance, subtly surveying her surroundings with her eyes, 'What happened to that hollow? I was sure one was about to get my baby.'

"Humph. Pitful."

The woman gasped with a deer caught in the headlights expression on her features, an eerily distinctive booming voice striking fear in her.

Her baby boy, however, did not share her fear, made clear by the innocent tilt of his head; something the figure standing behind his mother found unacceptable, "Uh? Who's the old geezer?"

The woman winced. She hadn't even faced the man, but she just knew he was burning a hole through her head. Sucking in as much air as humanly possible, the woman turned her head over her shoulder, her eyes wide at the strict-looking senior citizen standing before her.

He towered over her with his imposing height, emphasized by his huge arms crossed over his broad chest. What was left of his grey hair was formed on the sides of his head like a couple of wings. He donned a long brown trench coat over a tiger-striped vest-top, with a blue tie, over a white dress shirt; white pants, with matching shoes on his feet.

"Tou-sama," The woman whispered, through her son heard her.

'Tou-sama? I have a grandpops?'

"Humph. You dare address me as such after all this time Masaki? And after your pitiful attempt at defeating that insect," Heihachi Mishima scolded his daughter crossly, "You know how I feel about weaklings!" The orange haired boy cowered at his supposed grandfather's voice.

The man was terrifying.

"Please, tou-sama, you have to understand, I didn't expect it to come so suddenly!" Masaki Kurosaki said in desperation.

"Do not stand before me and make excuses!" Heihachi commanded thunderously, causing Masaki to flinch, "Are you that incompetent that you haven't even figured out the basic rule in life! And that's only those with power have the privilege to make up excuses!"

'Why is he being so mean to mommy? I thought he was my granddaddy,' The boy wondered, feeling saddened seeing his mother being scolded so harshly. She had never chided him or his sisters so badly, so why should she get such horrible treatment from her own pop, his grand-pop?

She's a good mommy!

Heihachi let out a scoff, turning cold, deadly eyes downward, freezing the boy in place. He felt like his soul was being pierced by Heihachi's gaze. Somehow, he mustered some strength to move behind the protective wall of his mother's leg.

Heihachi grimaced, "I take it this runt is my grandson."

Masaki bent down and wrapped her arms around her frightened son, before giving Heihachi a reluctant timid nod of her head in confirmation. Lying to her strict father would not serve well at all.

"Yes, tou-sama, he's name Ichigo Kurosaki, mine and Isshin's pride of joy," Masaki introduced Ichigo, gesturing shyly towards her boy, "Say hi Ichi-chan," Ichigo finally managed to tear his gaze away from his grandfather to look at his mother, who gave him a small smile of reassurance.

"Hiya grandpa," Ichigo murmured.

"Pathetic."

"Tou-sama."

Every part of Ichigo was shaking and he felt his heart beating a hundred times a minute, yet the only indication anything had changed was Heihachi's arms being clenched at his sides instead of folded over his chest like they were a moment ago.

"Father!" Masaki pleaded. This killing intent was immense!

"Weak!" Heihachi was not a happy camper, "Weakling. There's so much work to be done on him."

"F-Father, what do you mean?" Masaki asked, tears beginning to build up in her eyes, her grip on Ichigo tightening.

Heihachi crossed his arms. Those tears made him sick to his stomach. How could he raise such a weak daughter? It must have been because of his weak father. Then there was his weak son… Damn, he was surrounded by weaklings.

"Simple. I find the boy holds value. I'll make use of him," Most of all he wouldn't turn out weak like his pathetic mother and weak uncle. Weaklings.

That was all Masaki needed to hear, before shooting up to her feet and galloping away from Heihachi with Ichigo in her arms, "I'm sorry, pops, but I won't let you take away my baby boy!"

Heihachi cast a glance at the retreating form of Masaki, then shook his head.

"M-Mommy, what does Grandpa want with me?" Ichigo asked with fear laced in his voice.

"Don't worry, Ichi-chan, mommy won't let anyone ta-." Masaki instantly stopped her running lest she wanted to run into Heihachi himself.

'He got before me so fast,' Masaki thought.


	7. Naruto in Ranma

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Ranma 1/2**

* * *

><p><strong>The Eternal Burden <strong>

**Prologue **

What a stupid lousy cheating villain.

Those were the exact words spoken three months ago by one spiky blond-haired reincarnated ninja after getting casted off from his home planet or dimension to some next one, because apparently she was the original gangsta, the first verdict, and she claimed in all her self-righteousness her ancestral grandbaby-boys deserved a second chance.

The next thing Sasuke and Naruto saw her do was flash through a series of hand-signs, before a bright blinding light eclipsed everything.

When the light faded away, and Naruto came around he found Sasuke missing, along with Sakura, and Kakashi too, furthermore he wasn't in the Elemental Nations anymore!

The blond boy tried to ask a man dressed in a authority uniform where he was, but he just freaked out and fainted from seeing Naruto in his powered-up state. Though the only productive thing which came out of the whole incident was the fact that Naruto discovered for the life of him he couldn't understand a word the man was yelling.

He was speaking so incoherently, at least to Naruto's ears. The only thing Naruto got out of that whole confrontation and the bizarre, gawking looks of the other civilians was that a casual walking super-powered ninja wasn't a daily occurrence, so he powered-down into his base mode.

It took a while after that but eventually they got someone who could speak his native tongue fluidly. Apparently, he was a Japanese-looking American boy, and he was in an American airport. How he got there he didn't know. He asked them did they know anything about dimensional-travel but they looked at him like he was off of the rocker, so he zipped his mouth shut.

After that they shipped him off to Japan and got him a cheap apartment there.

XxX

(Present Day – Japan - Nerima – With Naruto)

The blond Uzumaki trudged through the streets of Nerima, glaring at everything for no particular reason.

He wore an orange hooded windbreaker, over a white short-sleeved t shirt, a pair of blue slacks, and a couple of sneakers fitted on his feet. He still had his invaluable green gem necklace given to him by the lady whom he thought of his grandma wrapped around his neck.

He hated it here. He just wished he could go home and beat the crap out of Kaguya for sending him here. He carried a lot of pain on his shoulders, being reminded everyday just by being alive and well that all of his friends and comrades were either enforced slaves against their wills, or trapped in a fake world created by their inner desires.

Naruto didn't know which one was worse.

On second thought, scratch that. Of course he did. If he had to choose between having to live in a dream world where he could get everything he always wanted, including being with the girl of his dreams, or getting everything that him Naruto taken away from him like his chakra among other traits, just to act as someone else's faceless slave then yeah, that route was basically already made for him.

Sign him up, and call him a cab because dream world would be getting a new tenant.

Not even needing to turn his head to know a familiar person he met in this place was approaching him, since his sensing abilities were off of the charts, Naruto just stopped, "Hey," He called out, his voice not laced with its usual chirpiness, and his face set in neutral mode.

"Oh. Well hello, Naruto-kun." A young brown haired woman slightly shorter than Naruto carrying bag of groceries in her arms greeted him with a pleasantly sweet smile on her face.

She was a beautiful reserved woman whom kept her sulky brown hair in a ponytail with a white hair-bobble. She was modestly garbed in a baby blue dress, which reached her knees, almost covering up the white shoes on her feet.

"Kasumi," Naruto mumbled.

Naruto had met Kasumi Tendo sometime after he had first arrived in Nerima and was directed to go to the clinic to get a check-up. They said it was mandatory, but Naruto thought they just wanted to see if he was crazy.

The doctor was amazed by Naruto's test results. Everything was just off of the charts. The blond just seemed like the textbook definition of superhuman. But before the doc could really process Naruto's results, this young woman walked in with another girl whom had blue hair.

When Kasumi sauntered in with her little sister, Naruto could've sworn the world just got flipped upside down. He had never seen someone act so crazy in his life! And he was him! Naruto Uzumaki - world's dumbest ninja, _was_.

"Were you heading to the market district to pick up some groceries?" Kasumi asked politely. She liked Naruto, he was a nice young man with a good heart. When she picked up on how lost Naruto was in Nerima, Kasumi took it upon herself to help him get by.

"Hmm. Just out to pick up a few bits and bobs," Naruto mumbled cryptically, a scowl coming to his face as he looked at the bag she was carrying, "Whaddya got there anyway?" Of course he knew. He wanted to hear her say it.

"Oh, just some groceries for tonight's dinner," Kasumi answered with a smile.

Naruto sighed, knowing the young woman really did too much for not only her family, but also him. Naruto really wasn't fond of Kasumi's father; to be frank he hated the man for treating his eldest daughter as if she was some unpaid servant.

With the way things were shaping up, Kasumi's younger sisters would eventually move out of the house to deal with their own lives, while Kasumi will be stuck taking care of their father until they were both old and grey, never getting to experience a life of her own.

Naruto frowned.

He wanted to change Kasumi's supposed pre-set fate despite being destined to become all-powerful himself, because after all, even Kasumi deserved to taste the finer things in life. Nothing should prohibit her from smelling the roses.

"Is something the matter, Naruto-kun?" The soft-spoken demure housewife-like lady queried quietly.

"It's nothing," Naruto brushed it off, not wanting to trouble the kind lady, "You have enough on your plate without worrying about me." He graced her with a small grin, though he didn't feel much like grinning with the burden he carried with him, it made Kasumi happy seeing such a good man, in her eyes, smile.

Naruto was rewarded for his efforts with a smile of Kasumi's own, "Okay. Just know I'm here for you, Naruto-kun. All you have to do is ask."

Naruto frowned, moving forward in front of the traditional lady to relieve her of her baggage, "You do too much, seriously. Even you need to kick back and relax sometimes."

"The chores won't do themselves, but I think I see what you're saying." Kasumi said, gracing the kind gentleman with another sweet smile at the assistance.

"Hmmmm! I guess," Naruto conceded, his eyes squinted in deep thought, 'Damn it, Soun! Why ya gotta be such a lazy ass, damn it! Your daughter's breaking her back here to keep things running while you sit on your ass!' Naruto ranted mentally.

"Shall we?" Kasumi asked, bringing Naruto out of his monologue.

Naruto gave the groceries a one-over, "Is this it?"

"Oh! Just the necessities," Kasumi explained, a little bit of a troubled frown enveloping her features, "I was going to pick up more, but…"

"Say no more." She couldn't do so, she had only one set of arms after all, "Let's head back into town. You can buy all you want and I'll be your mule. I'm as stubborn as one anyway," He joked, giving the woman a cheeky smile.

Kasumi let out a smile giggle, "Thank you, Naruto-kun. Really you don't have to go through all the trouble. I'm sure we can manage fine like this."

"Really. I insist." Naruto said, never losing his little grin in the presence of the kind-hearted lady.

"Thank you," Kasumi bowed.

"So!" Naruto perked up, "Let's roll." He felt Kasumi hook her arms inside his one, giving him her signature kind smile.

"Yes."


	8. Naruto in Ranma Extended

**Disclaimer: I don't Naruto or Ranma 1/2**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**The Road to Enlightenment Closed Off**

Despite the fact that the city of Nerima was now being polluted by heavy rain fall, it wasn't enough to damper the spirits of one patriarch.

His long black straightened hair fell to his mid back. From his complexion one would come to the conclusion he was spending too much time in the sun as it was sunburned red. He had a small pencil-shaped moustache and he had dark eyes. His garments consisted of a grey karate-styled gi top, opened at the chest area but held close at the wrist area by a black belt, a pair of matching pants, and wooden sandals on his feet.

He was once a proud and highly respected martial artist, but nowadays he was reduced to a snivelling shell of his former self, barely putting in much effort to keep his daughter well versed in the arts, to the point where she saw it as a mere hobby, rather than a means to an end.

This was okay, though.

In his hand, from where he was standing in the door frame after picking up the mail the mail-man had obviously posted through the letterbox of his dojo, was a letter from his long-time friend and fellow disciple. As his eyes roamed the contents of the life-filling words the letter held, the trembling man still almost felt the need to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Saotome's coming!" He chirped. He turned his head in the direction of the stairs, cupping his mouth with his hand as if it would really enhance the volume of his voice, "Nabiki-dear, I would like you to come to the living room!" He could hear a thumping sound, followed by an incoherent mumble from upstairs, but otherwise he took that as a sign that she was coming down.

He took a stroll down the hallway of his home but before he could complete his trek to the living room, he stopped and stared at a different direction that branched off from the one he was going to take to the living room.

"Akane-dear! I need to see you, too! Hurry!"

XxX

(Meanwhile – With Naruto and Kasumi)

XxX

Kasumi was without a doubt grateful to Mr Muscles for carrying all the shopping bags without so much of breaking a sweat. She had brought enough shopping to last her and her family at least a month depending on how much they ate in this time-span.

Usually, she would be out daily picking up a few ingredients for that day's meal she had planned to prepare, because carrying so many bags at a time took its toll on the housewife-esque young woman. And weariness was obviously the last thing she needed to feel with the remaining chores still needing to be done among preparing herself and her family their dinner for the day.

"I'm thankful for your assistance, Naruto-kun," Kasumi smiled alongside the young Uzumaki holding ten plain blue plastic bags, five in each hand, containing the many other groceries Kasumi would need to avoid going out for another month at least.

The now windbreaker-less blond just hummed, relaxingly looking over at the young woman intertwining their arms together so they could both stay under the protective shelter that was the white umbrella Naruto had brought for Kasumi.

It was a good thing he didn't watch too much television this world had to offer, otherwise he would've frowned like Kasumi did at the weather-forecaster's failed prediction of the weather itself. He immediately passed his jacket over to Kasumi who declined at first, not wanting the blond to catch a cold, but shortly accepted the jacket when the stubborn blond gently threw it over her shoulders.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay like that?" Kasumi murmured enquiringly, uncertain whether or not she should be wearing Naruto's jacket, 'Perhaps I really ought to give it back to him.'

"Hmm. I'm good," Naruto mumbled, sighing with a little bit of annoyance creeping into his voice. Kasumi really did worry too much, she had been recounting that last question ever since they began leaving the market district.

"Look, we'll be at your home sooner than we know it," Naruto tried to reason as a way to ease Kasumi's anxiety, the rain-droplets bouncing off of the umbrella, rolling off of it just in front of the duo, "Don't sweat."

Kasumi offered the laid-back young man a small smile, subtly tightening her grip on Naruto's arm. Oh, they must've looked like a couple being so close together. A lot of the folks in the market district looked at them that way too, and still it went even further. The cashiers of the stands they visited to buy said groceries Naruto was carrying even called Kasumi Naruto's 'lady friend', to which Naruto declined she was, leaving him guessing to what relation he held to her.

Either-way, no one wanted to mess with Kasumi with Naruto at her side.

"I know, but in times like this," She started, indicating to the falling rain around them, "-I can't help, but worry for your health."

A frown appeared on Naruto's whisker-marked face complete with squinted eyes, "Hmm," he tried to think of a way to explain to Kasumi that he wouldn't catch such a simple thing in his own simplistic way, "Don't." Mission accomplished.

"You know that only makes me worry more," Kasumi reminded.

"Don't be a worry wart," Naruto quipped simplistically, and in something akin to a jesting fashion, "I train a lot y'know? Any bad germs looking to settle down in this badass ninja is gonna get exiled through my armpits via sweat! So don't sweat!" Naruto thought that was kind of funny, how he was telling Kasumi not to sweat while he does, and damn would he be sweating a lot.

Apparently, the pun was not lost on Kasumi since she giggled slightly, "You do have a point." She had to concede in a gentle fashion. Being around a couple of martial arts would give a person a decent amount of insight on their health, "Why, I can't remember a day since Akane-imouto has caught a cold since the day father started teaching her martial arts," A thoughtful expression appeared on her face, "No, I really can't. I guess you're right Naruto-kun."

"Heck yeah I am."

"Hey what's that?"

"I think it's a girl."

"Is she… running from something?"

"What could she be running from?"

"Wait. Is that a-?"

A blank inquisitive expression masked Naruto's face at the equally probing voices he picked up from the bystanders or passing civilians, though the last voice really tickled his curiosity-bone since it almost felt like the person was gobsmacked. Whatever she saw must be out of the ordinary, so Naruto gave a quick scan of the area and felt two small 'chakra'-energy signatures quickly approaching.

He halted, bringing Kasumi to an equally sudden pause since she was more or less glued to him.

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Kasumi asked, a little concerned with her friend's sudden pause on their trek to the Tendo Dojo.

"Just a minute," Naruto said with a knowing smirk on his features, teasing his friend with the knowledge that he knew, or at least had a rough idea, of what was approaching and she didn't. Kasumi, though, to her credit, just smiled pleasantly, seeing that Naruto was enjoying himself.

Her smile quickly faded when a petite red haired young woman came skidding past from the left on the balls of her feet, stopping right next to a shop. Naruto's eyes instantly shot wide open, his eyes honed in on the girl's hair rather than her shapely hips, and busty, *drools* boobies.

She was a pretty young woman with fair skin and her tomato hair was tied in a pigtail. Her garments consisted of a red silk Chinese blouse with a white sash tied around her waist, a pair of black pants, and martial art shoes on her feet.

"Such pretty hair," Naruto mumbled in a daze, getting a look from Kasumi before a white and black animal came stomping into view, proceeding to freak the other civilians out, "Oh, goody, a panda! Looks kinda mad, though," He said nonchalantly, after meeting kung-Fu/samurai ass-kicking/slashing frogs, a serious boss-looking panda with an energy-signature around Chunin-level seemed par for the course for Naruto.

"Oh my!" It wasn't for Kasumi since she gasped with a hand covering her mouth, "I wonder what Mr Panda's doing around here in Japan."

"Hmmm. I heard the North-pole's gone South beach," Naruto joked with his eyes squinted, watching the redhead take up a skilful stance against the panda. Kasumi had to do a double take with her head tilted cutely to one side.

Was that adorable little girl really going to fight Mr Panda?

"C'mon then!" The redhead commanded, showing some feistiness which surprised Kasumi.

Naruto was initially impressed by the young redhead woman's agility when the panda lunged in on her with a claw extended, only to miss as the young woman nimbly spun on her heels, so her back was facing the panda, driving an elbow into its stomach which caused it to cough blood from its mouth.

"Ya have sum nerve pickin' my fiancée fer' me, yer old fart!" That was even more gasp-worthy, that despite being a rather reserved-looking female fighter, she was speaking as if she had come straight from the streets of Los Angeles, the bad side that was, with her ghetto-talking-self, "Without even asking fer my permission!"

Regardless of the size difference between the two, the redhead was still able to judo-flip the huge chubby panda over her shoulder, smashing it down on the ground.

"Suck on dat old man!" The rude-girl raged, picking up her dropped backpack, "I'm goin' back ta China, old man, so ya can take that engagement shit 'n shove it up yer ass!" While everyone else was taken aback by her rather colourful, strong vocabulary, the observant Uzumaki was more intrigued of how the young woman identified the panda, calling it an 'old man', implying it was a male.

Where he had come from a transformation into animals and other stuff not of human nature were common knowledge, though what he found perplexing was the fact he couldn't for the life of him detect a transformation from the 'maybe man-turned-panda'. Then there was the fact it should've dispelled after the young woman had slammed the panda into the ground.

"Hmm. Mebbies he's mastered it to the extent that granny Tsunade did," Naruto murmured thoughtfully, his rather vague words caught Kasumi's attention.

"Hmm? Did you say something, Naruto-kun?" Kasumi wondered.

This one time Naruto blanked her in favour of eyeing the girl walking away, though that wasn't what had his attention. It was the 'panda' rising to 'its' feet before casually plucking a stop sign out of the ground, stealthily stalking the redhead.

"You idiot! Don't drop your guard like that!" Naruto shouted, making the redhead turn her head curiously in his direction at the sound of his loud, scolding voice. But before she could really process his words, and retort casually, she jumped out of surprise from the blond speedily blurring forward, suspending the pigtail of her hair.

"Whoa! Talk 'bout putting the pedal to the metal!" She quipped with a gawk at the blond's speed, also taking note to the gaps of the other civilians, 'Meh. I betcha I coulda took that gu-.' The ringing sound of metal landing on the wet ground cut her off. She looked in the direction of the sound and blinked her eyes, "A stop sign?"

"Hey, kid," The redhead flinched at the similar voice that chided her moments ago, mostly because it came directly behind her, before she pivoted on her heels to see a blond-haired young man about her age standing in front of the panda who had a frightened look on its face, "You really ought to take better care of your blind spot. People will take advantage of that y'know."

"Well who asked ya fer' yer advice Mr Whiskers!" The redhead quipped snappily, taking a jibe at the scar-like birthmarks on the blonde's cheeks.

"Hmmm, jeez, I don't know, maybe the girl who was about to get taken out by old ninja panda here," Naruto retorted.

The girl turned away from him with her arms crossed over her chest and a small pout on her features, "I coulda taken that raggedy ass old man no problemo! One lucky sucker shot don't mean anythin' oh-kay!"

"Sure it doesn't honey," Naruto chirped teasingly, getting a glare from the redhead in return while the panda appeared to be calming down. Seeing the panda regaining its composure, Naruto made it lose it again by tussling at it in a threatening manner, making it cringe.

"Heh! This is a piece of cake!" Naruto boasted, sweeping the panda off of its feet with a low kick, before going high, leaving the panda in the air for a second, then blasted the panda down the street with a simple kick. The crowd, the redhead, and Kasumi were all left gaping at the blond's prowess, but for other people they were shocked at Naruto's brutality of a poor animal.

"Oh that poor panda!"

"How could he be so cruel!?"

"Mommy, why did the bad man hurt Mr Panda?"

"Don't look at him sweetie?"

"Everyone we have to go help that panda!"

"Yes, he could be seriously hurt!"

"Then we'll take him back to the Zoo!"

"Where he'll be safe from savages like that ruthless man!"

The civilians spoke in such a synchronized order, one might have thought they actually all knew each other to some extent. Either that or there was something in the air, as a bewildered blond shinobi watched them dash off in the direction of where he had mercilessly booted the panda. He had to check to make sure Kasumi hadn't ditched him to rush off to the aid of the panda.

Thankfully she hadn't.

'Serves dat crummy tube of lard right anyway, pawning me off on sum girl I've never even met or even heard a' before!' The redhead ranted mentally, feeling nothing but disdain for the supposed injured panda, 'I mean who in the hell does he thinks he is, anyway? The very least he coulda done is asked me, so I coulda told him to talk to the hand 'cause the face ain't listenin'!'

"No need to thank me. I'm just your friendly neighbourhood shinobi!" The blond haired young man's chirpy quote brought the redhead out of her musings.

"Yeah, no, I hadn't planned on thankin' ya in the first place, 'Spidey'," The redhead retorted, a hand on her hip, "But since ya asked fer' one so nicely, how 'bout this? Thanks, but no thanks. I coulda dealt with big ol' panda on my own! Last thing I needed was fer sum wannabe hero ta hog the spotlight."

"Aw. Is someone cranky because they didn't get their thunder bottle," Naruto mocked, getting decked in the face by the feisty redhead.

Even Kasumi could feel the tension mounting to dangerous levels as she noticed the blond drop his teasing smirk, "Oh dear! I really wish she hadn't of done that." She said, slightly fearing for the girl's safety. Luckily for her, Naruto decided to go easy on her, double-finger poking her to her forehead, slamming her down to the ground on her rear-end.

"Ow! Whatcha do that for?" She whined, grasping the assaulted brow with both her hands, 'Rats! His two fingers felt like a damn steam-train mowing me down!' That was a painful, hard, pill to swallow. She took great pride in her strength, to know there was someone out there who could not only bruise her head, but also force her on her knees with only his two fingers was not a pleasant feeling to her behind.

She would need to get her hands on some lube later.

When the redhead looked up, trying to muster some confidence to glare at her attacker, she suddenly felt very small gazing into the glaring eyes of the grumpy shinobi.

"Naruto-kun!" Fortunately for the redhead a louder than normal soft voice castigated the blond, putting a curious expression on her face until it was satisfied when a brown haired lady holding an umbrella jogged up to the side of Naruto, a slight frown decorating her face, "You shouldn't be so rude to her."

Naruto turned his head away from Kasumi, still managing to cross his arms over his chest regardless of the ten bags he held, "She asked for it!" He pouted childishly, missing the glare the redhead sent him.

Kasumi released a sigh, before turning to the downed redhead with her trademark gentle smile on her features, "I apologize on behalf of Naruto-kun and myself, he's," She paused, attempting to carefully word her explanation of Naruto's temper, while the redhead looked at her curiously, "-He's new here. I hope you won't hold this misunderstanding against him miss," She hoped pleasantly, 'I do hope I wasn't too harsh on Naruto-kun.'

The young redhaired woman gave Naruto an spectating glance before returning her gaze on Kasumi, "Yeah, I kinda figured the gaijin would'na be from around here."

"I'm not a gaijin!" Naruto blurted out stubbornly. Why did people always call him that? "Damn it!"

The redhead gave the blond haired young man a cheeky smirk, "Well yer look like one to me… _Blondie."_

"Humph. Whatever," Naruto sulked. It didn't matter. At the end of the day, he looked like a Super Saiyan with his unusual blond hair and blue eyes, and they were awesome! So how did ya like 'em apples, haters!? Hey, just because he didn't watch much television in this world didn't mean he didn't watch TV all together. The blonde enjoyed the occasion cartoon every and then, be it hardcore action ones such as Dragon Ball Z with their Super Saiyan planet-destroying epicness, or silly, slapstick humorous ones like Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy, with their mad, money-making schemes. The prank master, Eddy, was his favourite character, with lovable Ed as a close second.

The redhead chuckled wryly at the grumping young man.

"My, it's nice to see you in such high spirits, miss," Kasumi smiled, bending down to offer the girl a hand.

The redhead accepted the hand with a cheery grin on her features, "Hell yeah I am! Taking shots at Whiskers is enough ta fill my funny fer the day," She got a scoff from Naruto in return, "Oh, name's Ranma Saotome by the way."

"My. What a nice name. You're so well-mannered too, asking for someone else's name before requesting theirs," Kasumi praised, making the redhead rub the back of her head in a bashful manner, "Oh where are my manners? I'm Kasumi Tendo, I'm sure you already know Naruto-kun here."

Ranma put on a teasing smirk which she quickly sent Naruto's way, "Oh I already got _Whiskers-chan_'s name jogged down in my little memory book," She got her desired ruse out of Naruto when the whiskered-face shinobi spun towards her with a heated glare.

"Ah hell no, I _know _you didn't just call me that! Ya want summa this?" Naruto held out his arms in a challenging manner, but the redhead just cheekily, yet cockily retreated with a cheerful grin on her features.

"Smell ya later, Whiskers!" Ranma carelessly sprinted away from the annoyed blond at Kakashi's level of speed. She was definitely better than the usual bunch of wannabes around this area, but of course she was nowhere near his or Sasuke's level. That wasn't a fair comparison. Sasuke and Naruto were demi-gods in their own world, and here they were literally gods among civilians.

Kasumi just let out another sigh at the sulky blond haired young man before fretting as the rain continued to douse his form. He really shouldn't have given her his jacket. Now he was going to catch a cold or something.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, look at you. You're getting all wet. You know you really should take your jacket back. You might catch a cold." Naruto simply rolled his eyes, tuning out the worrying Kasumi while she remained fretting over his condition.

XxX

(Tendo Dojo)

XxX

After the patriarch of the dojo had gathered his other daughters in the living room part of the dojo, the patriarch cheerily stood up, his arms folded behind his back as he gazed out into the open world from his position on the edge of the living room.

"Ah. It's such a lovely day."

His daughters shared a glance with each other, letting the other know silently they didn't have a clue what their father meant by such an description.

"Oh that is such an accurate description, daddy, after all it's not like they say rain doesn't dampen the spirits now," His second eldest daughter said, sarcasm laced in her voice. Her chocolate brown hair fell to her shoulders, her coffee brown eyes were lowered in a half-lidded fashion to give off a static feel about them, and her garments coincided with her bland expression; just a simple green traditional yukata.

Nabiki's dry rebuttal of his optimistic description of the day clearly never annoyed him in the least since he just guffawed slightly, "Of course! Of course! We should all be happy!"

Now his youngest daughter was really concerned, if not also annoyed by her father's cheery attitude, "What do you mean daddy? Why did you call us here?" Akane asked crossly. Like her sister, she too was blossoming into a beautiful young woman, though with how insecure she was, it blinded her from seeing her own beauty.

Her long luscious dark blue hair fell past her shoulder-blades, to her higher back, tied at the bottom of her hair was a red hair-band. Even know she wore clothes displaying her status of a martial artist, a light yellow long sleeved karate Gi-top, with matching pants, held closed at the wrist by a red belt, a white undershirt, one could still make out her curvaceous hips, and cc-cup breasts.

Their father spun around so fast it almost looked unnatural, "Because!" His excitement was coursing well over nine thousand, "An old friend in training of mine is coming to Nerima! Oh, don't you see!? This is a happy occasion!" His daughters didn't share the same sentiment as him though.

"Oh, I do wonder what wondrous fortunes this old man has to grace us with," Nabiki said with a coy smile, the pupils of her eyes rolling as if they were cash-machines before settling on green dollars, "Perhaps he's bringing money!" From her daddy's self-satisfied chuckle she almost thought that was the case. She needed more money! Money, money, money all money hers, and no one else!

"Ah, it's even better, dear!" The chief of the dojo said.

"What? Don't keep us in the dark daddy," Akane stated, now her curiosity was piqued.

He turned back around to gaze at the koi pool out back with his arms once again folded behind his back, feeling assured his dream would come true, "Ah, yes, of course dear. My old friend Saotome is finally returning with his son in tow. Isn't that wonderful?" His blue haired daughter was looking at him with a bewildered expression on her face.

"I don't get it!" Akane snapped heatedly, "Why is that such a big deal papa?"

"Because Saotome and I have arranged a marriage to take place involving one of my lovely daughters and his sensible well-mannered lad," His explanation left Akane staring at him as if he had grown a second head.

"What?" She raged, her second oldest sister schooling her features to remain cool headed, "But we don't even know who this Saotome or his son is, daddy!"

"Nonsense! You won't have to, I'm sure he's a fine lad!" He chirped optimistically.

"It could be… beneficial to have another boy around here," Nabiki seemed to contemplate this in a cool fashion, her ever observant eyes not missing the flinch of her father, "What is this mystery boy like daddy?"

As the patriarch of the Dojo let out a guffaw, the money-loving young woman was filled with hope that he knew something about this young man, something interesting and beneficial so she could make more money for herself, "Ah," He sighed, seemingly bliss, until he turned his head over his shoulder, a calm, pensive look on his face, "I don't know," Nabiki's hope was squashed like an ant underneath a giant's feet, "I've never met the lad."

Wait. The hell?

"What the hell daddy? How can you not know anything about the boy who you say one of us has to marry!?" Akane screeched, causing her father to wince, "Do you even know his name or did your friend forget to write that in his letter?" She pouted, crossing her arms underneath her bosom.

"Oh, of course, of course!" He hurried, spinning around rather nervously in the face of his daughter's growing ire while his other daughter watched in amusement, "Why, Saotome made sure to put the lad's name down right here in this letter!" He held out the letter to the peering eyes of his daughters.

The letter: _Hi_ _Tendo, old friend, bringing Ranma from China. See ya soon. _

From the letter, they could tell this Saotome person obviously wasn't big on handwriting since it just looked like scribble. It was almost a mystery how he even managed to write coherently enough to even manage to put that much on the letter.

When the girls looked up, they found their father's grin threatening to split his face in two, "See!" He stood tall with an air of self-assurance about him, "His name's Ranma, dear, and I'm sure he's a fine young lad! After all, I have faith that Saotome raised him well," He nodded to himself.

"Well I'm not marrying him!" Akane grumped.

"B-But Akane-dear," He pleaded in desperation.

"I said no, daddy!" Akane thundered, causing her father to whimper.

"Of course little sis wouldn't want to marry someone who isn't Uzumaki," Nabiki said offhandedly, more in a way to tease her little sister, a mission of which she succeeded in since she blushed before quickly looking at her with anger in her eyes. Nabiki also idly noticed her father cringed at the mention of Naruto. Oh it was just so thrilling playing with their emotions.

"Nabiki! I don't even like that idiot!" Akane shouted reflexively.

"Oh? Do tell how that may be, little sis. I suppose trying to make him dinner doesn't show him your feelings," The sarcastic/sadistic teen retorted, causing the blush on her sister's cheeks to redden, "No, that wouldn't be the case. You're probably just jealous of big sis."

Akane looked away from Nabiki, "Not everyone thinks the world revolves around boys," She said, a small pout on her face, "Why should I care who's cooking that jerk wants to eat anyway?!"

A sadistic smile crossed Nabiki's features, "Oh. Then I suppose you wouldn't care what my sources say they saw one Uzumaki doing… who should I say, _with?_" From her sister's wiggling ears, Nabiki knew she had her attention, "They say he was spotted conversing with another girl in the park close to nine pm." She needed to say no more. Her little sis made it too easy for her to manipulate her.

Akane launched herself to her feet faster than a rocket taking off on its voyage to the sky, her arms tucked tightly at her sides, "Oh, that pervert!" Akane screamed with such a ferocious glare in her eyes, her father almost wet himself, "I don't care what he does anymore!" She stormed off.

"Akane-dear!" He tried, but was ignored, "Oh Nabiki-dear, how could you?" He cried melodramatically, "Now she'll never marry the lad!" He perked up when he realized he still had one daughter left, sitting right in front of him. She was all available. Even if Naruto would never allow him to pawn Kasumi or Akane off on some random ass boy whom they'd never met before that same privilege didn't apply to Nabiki. The two didn't really see eye-to-eye even if they did attend the same school.

Their relationship went along the lines of, "You don't mess with me and I won't kill you," From Naruto's perspective.

He looked at Nabiki with a chirpy smile on his features, "Say, I've been thinking, sinc-."

"No."

"W-What-? But you didn't even give me the chance to finish dear!"

"I hardly have any plans to surrender my future so you and an old man can achieve your end-all goal, daddy," Nabiki explained carelessly, feeling no remorse for the small wails she could hear coming from her father. With a shrug she picked herself up off of the floor, only to put herself down again but on her side in front of the television.

"But Nabiki-dear-."

"No means no, daddy!"

He flinched, turning away from his cold-hearted daughter to whimper at the sky.

How could he explain to Saotome that their dream was more than likely never going to come true?


	9. Naruto in Ranma Part 3

**Chapter Two**

**The Evil Genius in the Shadows **

"See what I mean now? No sweat at all."

The blond-haired Super Saiyan lookalike said in a satisfied fashion, having easily sauntered to just outside of the doors leading to the Dojo with Kasumi by his side.

Dojo itself was quite massive and generally traditional of what one would expect of a legit martial arts dojo. It was surrounded by four walls on each side seamlessly connecting to each other to form a protective square. Even the entrance door was neatly shaped, with the ceiling pointing upwards like a cone. Just underneath the door was a sign with golden kanjis engraved into the rectangular-shape sign bearing the meaning 'Tendo-Dojo' in the aforementioned Chinese characters.

Kasumi giggled, conceding to Naruto in this matter, though she seemed reluctant to do so, "Well you're not sneezing, so I'm happy about that. But If I hear from Akane-imouto that you have missed school tomorrow because you came down with a slight flu, I won't be happy with you, young man," The demure-lady _attempted_ to come off as stern, but unfortunately for her, strictness was not her cup of tea, evident by the fact she merely came off as mildly rigorous with a bland look on her unusually unsmiling face.

Naruto frowned, squinting his eyes. He really hated school, it was boring, but apparently the people in charge of the United States of America told him it was mandatory for all young men around his age to attend school in any country, and that if he didn't go, he could end up getting taken to court. The reincarnated Ashura didn't care about that but he felt if he didn't go, then he wouldn't have gotten his flat.

So his hands were basically tied.

Besides, Naruto figured he'd _say _he was going to this Japanese school known as Furinkan High to get the guys whom got him a life over here to shut up, then just not go to school. In other words, play hooky, all day, every day of the week – just like he used to do when he was in the academy.

He would've had like trillion tardy slips up the wazoo if it wasn't for Kasumi, who sent Akane to retrieve Naruto from his apartment every morning. At first the blue haired young woman despised picking up Naruto from his home, but further down the line it became a mere annoyance at worst and a minor inconvenience at best.

The youngest Tendo seemed to tolerate playing escort for Naruto. 

"Fine!" Naruto sulked; he could never find it in him to deny the sweet young lady, "I'll be at _school _tomorrow with Akane-chan."

"Don't frown. You'll get wrinkles," Kasumi advised sweetly, and it was at times like these which left Naruto second guessing whether or not Kasumi was benevolently reprimanding him or simply offering him a suggestion. So the blond just hummed, trying to put his new scowling mask of annoyance on which he had developed after shortly arriving in America and lamenting on his loss to Kaguya, but he could never truly be angry in Kasumi's presence.

At best Naruto looked slightly miserable as Kasumi smiled beside him, tugging on his damp sleeved arm a bit as if it would jump start the enthusiasm back into him. Naruto understood that she was prompting him to move forward, and obliged willingly, the two venturing over to the front door of the dojo.

Despite having five shopping bags each in his hands, Naruto was still able to open the door with his elbow, before taking a step to the side to disconnect himself from Kasumi.

"Ladies first."

"My, you're quite the gentleman Naruto-kun." Kasumi complimented with a small smile. She only received a simple shrug as a response from her blond helper.

"Meh, I try, anyway."

"Well, I think you're succeeding." Kasumi assured positively, causing Naruto to puff his chest out a little to display some pride in his mature chivalrous achievement. Though an enquiring expression formed on his face from the frown developing on Kasumi's, "Though I do wish you would go in first. You're getting soaked. But I suppose we would be out here all day if I suggested that."

And Naruto wasn't going to sugar coat it with the rain saturating his form once again since he had left the protective shelter of the umbrella. He just nodded his head with gusto, "Hmm-mmm. Amen." Kasumi could only sigh docilely, then ambled into her home followed by Naruto, whom knocked twice on the wall to let the others know Kasumi had returned.

Kasumi just removed the umbrella from above her head and folded it up, hanging it up on a coat rack.

"W-."

"Ohhh! It must be Ranma!"

Kasumi and Naruto shared a glance with each other upon hearing Nabiki's rather excited voice cut in right before Naruto could announce their arrival. From the odd looks on their faces mirroring each other's ones, it was easy to tell the two wondered why the middle Tendo sibling knew a person they had only met today.

Once Kasumi's first younger sister slid into view, desired wish not fulfilled was the very textbook definition of Nabiki's disappointment, not that she let it show. The stoic business-esque woman immediately schooled her features at seeing who had really journeyed into the residence of the Tendos.

"Oh. It's just big sis, with Uzumaki."

"Were you expecting someone else?" The blond queried. Rhetorical question aside: the lone wolf of the Uzumaki clan darkened his glare as if he was sticking strictly in the bad cop persona.

"Oh. Do take a wild guess, Uzumaki," Nabiki recommended, none too nicely either. The she-devil took sadistic pleasure upon seeing Naruto intensity his glare at her, as evident by the fiendish smirk on her face.

"Nabiki! You're being rude!" Kasumi lectured, only getting a cheeky tongue from her younger sister, making her sigh.

But before the oldest sister could turn to offer her thoroughly annoyed friend her trademark smile with an added spice of shyness, a chirpy voice rang out through the air, "Ah! Saotome, Ranma-kun, lad, so you've both came! What a joyous occasion this is! Come Saotome, we shall celebrate the beginnings of a wondrous future with a bottle of sake and game of shogi!" The Tendo patriarch cheered, walking into view from around the corner, his cheery expression turning into a curious one at the sight of Nabiki's deadpanned stare while the girl just lazily pointed to _who_ had actually walked in.

His happy expression fell completely at the sight which greeted him.

"Oh! K-Kasumi-dear, U-Uzumaki-kun… Uhm! Ah. W-What a p-pleasant surprise i-it i-is to see you, Uzumaki-kun," He said in sheer nervousness, only getting a smile from his eldest daughter, which he couldn't take pleasure from with the deadly glare from the blond-ninja aimed in his direction.

He gulped, backing up slowly.

Uzumaki was even scarier than _him!_

"Ranma, huh?" Naruto more or less growled out in a dangerous tone.

"_Ya have sum nerve pickin' my fiancée fer' me, yer old fart!_"

It was easy to put the pieces of the puzzle together just from remembering the young woman's words from earlier. Why else would Soun Tendo be so chirpy about the arrival of a 'quote-on-quote' _lad _Naruto highly doubted he even knew, if that was the case? Unless it was Soun's lucky day, being that there were two Ranma Saotomes, but that just seemed utterly improbable.

Naruto could buy the sheer coincidence of him and Kasumi running into a female Ranma, while a next Ranma, presumably male, made his way to the Tendo dojo, of course. There was a slight chance in life that at times one may run into another with the same first name as him/her, but running into someone with both the same first and last names as you?

Not a snowball's chance in hell.

"It's not what you think lad!" Soun implored.

"Really?!" Naruto queried in a feigned chirpy tone, "Alright. Educate me why don't you, _teach._" The smart-mouthed shinobi's quick wittedness left the frightened Soun fumbling for an answer.

What happened next anyone would think a black cat crossed Soun's path, "Turns out an old friend of daddy's has a son that the old man and daddy planned to get either myself, little sis, or big sis to tie the knot to," His unmerciful daughter happened, straight up telling the already angered Naruto of her father's plans involving either her or anyone of her siblings with utter disregard for her father's wellbeing.

If anything Nabiki seemed to take pleasure in her father's misery.

That was even enough for Kasumi of all people to break her bland exterior she had developed as a defence mechanism whenever controversy erupted in the Tendo Dojo. How could their father plan to marry one of them off to an immature _woman _no less without ever informing them to let them know they had a choice in the matter, and that they wasn't being forced into this?

"Nabiki!" Soun cried. He should have paid her. That would've kept her mouth shut real good. Too bad it was too late now, the damage was already done. From his daughter's smirk of condescension it was clear Nabiki held herself with an air that clearly said she was better than everybody else.

"Soun, you asshole!" Naruto raged, tussling at the cowering Soun.

Lucky luck actually decided to cut Soun some slack, "Naruto-kun, please calm down," In the form of his lovely eldest daughter, Kasumi, who was still very much calm despite the drama threatening to escalate to the infinity and beyond.

Naruto gave off a low snarl at the pitifully wailing Soun, who was shielding his face with his hands, before Naruto just pouted, shifting his head away from Soun's direction with his bottom lip sticking out, "Humph. Fine."

Soun calmed down, his hand on his heart. He could conspicuously feel the thumping of his heart pounding away at his chest as if it was looking for an escape. He breathed in and out more deeply in an attempt to soothe his stress-filled heart, "Thank you very much, dear," Soun said with a teary-eyed expression.

Kasumi just smiled, "Father, is it true?" Soun stiffened, gulping hard while his beautiful daughter carefully worded her question, a finger lightly caressing her chin, "What Nabiki-imouto said, that you plan to marry one of us off to a younger woman?" Nabiki pocketed that info immediately.

"Kasumi-dear! How could you say such a thing my lovely daughter?" Soun bawled in exaggeration with a waterfall of tears running down his eyes. Kasumi's smile turned a tad sheepish at the glaring Naruto, while her father continued to have himself a good cry. Funnily enough, Kasumi referring to Ranma as a female was lost on the man. He was just trying to take the easy way out.

"Big sis, if I may," Nabiki said, bringing the attention of Kasumi and Naruto onto her, "You say Ranma's a girl, so I have to ask did you and Uzumaki run into him… or her, because from what daddy says, I was getting the picture that Ranma was a 'he'." Soun looked towards his second daughter with a face full of shock.

"W-What? B-But t-that can't be dear! Saotome said-," Soun stalled, hastily drawing the letter from his karate gi top to desperately scan its contents for definite proof of Ranma's masculine gender. The only proof Naruto could see was Soun's trembling hands telling him he wasn't going to finish his sentence.

But someone did, "The old fool's said he's bringing 'Ranma' down daddy; he didn't specifically state what gender she was in any way, shape, form," Nabiki rebutted coolly. That was made even more evident by the fact that the name 'Ranma' wasn't a male-oriented name, unlike the name 'Naruto', which was used exclusively for Japanese-males.

Soun lowered his head, dropping his arms, with his fingers falling loose and freely releasing the letter his old friend had sent him, "But Saotome…"

"It's true father," Kasumi promised gently, a smile on her face, "Naruto-kun and I met Ranma-chan not too long ago. She was a very well-mannered young lady," Hearing the confirmation from Kasumi made Soun fall into a pit of despair, "Although Naruto-kun and I never saw a nice middle-aged man with her, only Mr Panda."

"Unless the old man was the panda in disguise or something," Naruto mumbled, yet the anguishing Soun had already zoned everything else out.

How could this be? First his youngest daughter stubbornly refused to take him and Saotome up on their offer to join Saotome's 'son' in holy ceremony, which was quickly followed by his middle daughter also heartlessly leaving Soun's request hanging. Now this! His oldest daughter, and the one who was least likely to marry Ranma even if (Ranma) he… she was of a male gender due to her overprotective friend clarified that Ranma was a girl. Oh! How could fate be so cruel!? Waa! Why?

He and Saotome had spent so much time together, developing not only their skills, but also their bond through the many ordeals they undergone, with only each other to lean on to soldier through the gruelling, tortuous, demoralizing, and humiliating 'training exercises' they were subjugated to.

Why - It was only natural that the two had planned to settle down with a couple of nice women, have children with their wives, breed a male and female heir/heirless for their respective schools, and marry off their son and daughter to emerge their schools.

It meant so much to Soun who had worked so hard to build his legacy, to see it carried on by a strong and powerful heir, but now, his dream was truly shattered, like shards of a broken cup.

"Saotome…" Darkness claimed the sad-stricken patriarch, and without his conscious to work his body muscles, gravity began working against his body.

"Father!" Kasumi fretted, seeing Soun dropping pitifully to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Pathetic!" The blond haired blunt shinobi blurted out.

"Naruto-kun!" Kasumi scolded.

"What? What'd I say, Kasumi? I'm just being honest!" Naruto whined.

"That maybe so, but you shouldn't be so rude to someone who has just fainted. What if father's really hurt? He might be really hurt Naruto-kun," Kasumi was clearly worried over her father's mental state, and rightly so, considering the fact her mother was no longer in the picture, god bless her soul.

Naruto seemed to contemplate this with a long drawled out drone and squinted eyes, all the while still taking notice to Nabiki's mocking grin, "Hmmm, I think he'll be okay in the long run, but I'll take him in the living room to lay him down or something. Just lemme put these bags in the kitchen."

Kasumi nodded, staying strong regardless of keeping a fretting eye on her unconscious father, "Thank you." Naruto began ambling to the kitchen.

"No probs," The laid-back young man said in an easy going manner, ambling forward to the kitchen after stopping to glare at Nabiki and her sadistic smile, something which made Kasumi sigh.

Naruto stopped again. He hadn't even made it to the kitchen before finding his school friend standing in between the space separating the living room from the back garden, "Hmm?"

"Naruto," Akane mumbled with an expression of uncertainty on her face.

"Hey, ChiChi! Goku's home now," Naruto joked with a cheery, cheeky fox-like smile on his face.

XxX

(Flashback)

"_Oh. Then I suppose you wouldn't care what my sources say they saw one Uzumaki doing… who should I say, with?" From her sister's wriggling ears, Nabiki knew she had her attention, "They say he was spotted conversing with another girl in the park close to nine pm."_

XxX

(End of Flashback)

XxX

With Nabiki's words constantly running through Akane's head, it left the young woman unsure of how to approach one of her closest friends. Shyness and awkwardness were a pair of jerks to her, but usually when she got like that she would fall into her comfort zone: anger. So with that in mind Akane flared her temper.

"Oooo! Where have you been mister?!" Akane interrogated heatedly, clamping her hands on her hips.

"Wah!" Naruto recoiled in a goofy fashion.

But Akane wasn't willing to cut him any slack, "Don't play dumb with me, jerk, you know what?" Akane marched up to Naruto, grabbing a chunk of his white t shirt, "Who she is, you pervert?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about damn it!" Naruto yelled crossly, squinting his eyes, but this time in annoyance instead of curiosity, or as a form of disapproval. He loved his friend, he really did, since she'd been good to him during his time in Nerima, but she really needed to learn to control her fiery temper. Also, she really needed to quit being so irrational.

Akane was still trying to burn a hole through Naruto's head with a heat-vision-esque angry stare, "You liar!" Stretching her unoccupied arm back, Akane clenched her hand into a fist, before letting out a war-cry, "Ha-yah!" She threw a punch at the blond.

But the fox-faced shinobi was too slick for her, as he effortlessly rolled his head to the side, resulting in Akane's fist sailing past his cheek, before not only slipping from her hold, but also getting behind her so fast it resulted in Akane losing her balance. She had some elegance, but she wasn't a prodigy in agility.

Akane fell to her knees.

"I don't have time for this," Naruto griped. Hearing those words leave Naruto's mouth were like a sudden wake-up call to the blue haired young woman who felt a sharp pang of sadness swell up inside of her. Once again she used her sheer indignation as a defence mechanism to avoid having to deal with the sadness.

"You know what you are? A jerk!" Akane screeched, shooting up to her feet and racing away from Naruto, who turned his head over his shoulder, getting a glimpse of her retreating back with a low-sprinted expression on his face.

She _was_ one of his closest friends, but their relationship really was one roller-coaster of emotions.

That was just another reason to hold contempt for Soun.

"Akane-chan."

XxX

"Hmm?" Kasumi hummed from where she sat on her knees perched up against the wall trying to comfort her father, only stopping momentarily when a distressed Akane came sprinting past her as fast as she could.

"I hate boys!" Akane wailed stressfully, disappearing out of the view of her sisters.

"Seems little sis is having trouble controlling her man," Nabiki stated mercilessly, with the ruthless young woman's eyes going half lidded, and a grin of self-satisfactory playing across her lips, 'Oh, little sis, I do enjoy how easy you make it to play the game.' That just meant more money for her, and her alone.

"Oh Nabiki-imouto."

XxX

(In the Meantime - Kitchen – Naruto)

XxX

"Ugh," Naruto grunted, resting the shopping bags on the side of the kitchen counter just underneath the cupboards he knew the food was settled in. The Tendo dojo's kitchen was a rather small, humble room, with blue painted walls, a water-heater perched on the wall next to the sink, right next to the back door, a white small fridge with a matching freezer placed underneath the counter Naruto had set the bags upon, that one being next to the entrance.

The kitchen didn't have a main door, barring the one leading to the back-garden, per say, just a few white thin flaps, but at least Soun was able to afford a washing-machine. Opposite to where the fridge and the freezer were perched was a built-in oven complete with a electric stove. And lastly, there was a medium sized bin by the door.

"Aw, Man! Is my luck rotten or what?" Oh, the Irony, and he knew it to be. Naruto _usually _had pretty good luck, which explained how he was able to swiftly win back the money his ass of a tutor had spent off by receiving a free lotto ticket from some guy and hitting jackpot in one fell swoop, "Whoopee doo," The blond shinobi moaned despondently.

Putting his friendship troubles aside for the time being Naruto trudged back out of the kitchen and into the hallway where Soun had fainted, finding his friend resting against the wall, observing her father with worrying brown orbs. Nabiki clearly had her fill of entertainment at the expertise of others, because she was nowhere in sight with her 'chakra-signature' settled upstairs, as Naruto's godly senses would tell him.

"K. I'm back." Naruto announced casually, spooking Kasumi.

"Naruto-kun," Kasumi said, regaining her composure and looking in his direction, "You frightened me."

"My bad," Naruto intoned apologetically, his trademark mischievous grin crossing his features. Carefully, though, he simply bent down, and effortlessly lifted the unconscious Soun off of the ground, positioning the man on his shoulder as if he was a sack of potatoes.

Despite seeing a super human _easily_ pick up her father, a full grown man no less, like he was a baby, the demure lady took it all at face-value, delicately picking herself up off of the ground with a sagely smile on her face.

"I think… you and Akane-imouto had another argument." It was more of a statement than a guess, but Kasumi was just too politely traditional to call Naruto out in such a blunt manner.

Naruto let out a wince of exasperation, rubbing the back of his head, "Aw, it's nothin' I swear! Akane-chan was just jumping the gun thinking I was with another girl! No girl even wants me 'cause they think I'm a gaijin, the jerks! You gotta believe me!" He Implored.

"It's only because Akane-imouto cares about you, Naruto-kun," Kasumi said softly, "I think you know that as well as I do, don't you?"

"I do?"

Kasumi nodded, clasping her hands together, and neatly holding them below her wrist, "She doesn't mind going to your apartment in the morning to make sure you get to school on time."

"She doesn't?" The oblivious young man asked with his arms folded across his chest, tilting his body to the side in a way so Soun didn't end up dropping off of his shoulder. He got confirmation from Kasumi's nod, "Ah. I always just figured she had to come get me 'cause you made her, or something."

Kasumi gently shook her head, no, "I asked her. At first she… complained," She explained a tad hesitantly, not wanting to speak ill of her little sister. She smiled again, "It didn't take long for Imouto to get into the swing of escorting you to school. She likes doing so. My. I hardly even need to remind her anymore."

"Uhm." Naruto mumbled, not sure how to feel about this new revelation brought to his blind self, "You don't say," He was conflicted. On one hand, he just wanted to find Akane, give her a hug, and cheerfully say, "Thanks for looking out for me Akane-chan! You're awesome!" But on the other hand, did he deserve Akane's kindness?

Naruto was not a deep thinker, no way, Jose. His friend Kurama could effortlessly supply to anyone that Naruto's head was about as empty, and as silence as the sewer the mighty Biju used to live in. This time was an exception. The blond felt guilty accepting Akane's kindness, or even having her as a friend knowing he failed all of his old friends and comrades back in his home-world.

"Oh, of course," Kasumi just continued in the same pleasant cheery tone as she started with, though dropping it when she noticed the deep pensive expression on Naruto's face. With a voice laced with concern, she asked, "What's wrong? You don't seem happy about that?"

"It's not that I'm not happy, it's just…" Naruto stalled, his face scrunching up in exasperation. The phantom voices of his deceased comrades echoed throughout his head, haunting the already guilty blond with their painful, taunting words. Each voice varied from the dearly departed that were Naruto's comrades to the next but it all boiled down to the same fundamental question rolled up in its finest simplistic package.

"_Why couldn't you save us_?"

"'I'm a failure." Naruto answered their one and only question with the only answer he could muster, and the only one which made any sense to him with an air of dejection about him, 'I suck big time,' With a capital S.

He felt a sudden grasp on his whisker-marked cheek, the softness of the hand soothing him, if only slightly.

"Don't say that Naruto-kun. You've helped us a lot in the short time we've known you. I'm grateful… Akane-imouto's grateful," Kasumi said softly.

While she didn't have a clue why Naruto was calling himself a failure she wasn't going to stand for it either. If it wasn't for Naruto then to this day Akane would be still casually defending herself from a bunch of… boys with out of control hormones, all with the illusion that if one of them had somehow defeated her, then Akane would surrender her hand in marriage.

Or at the very least one of them could call himself Akane's illegitimate boyfriend. Whatever works.

Of course a dozen of normal school boys pitted up against a mildly super-powered martial artist stood not a ghost of a chance of even touching her. It was the equivalent of a homeroom kindergarten teacher being forced to beat on her rampaging toddler-students to settle them down.

They were nothing but tenacious to the martial artist who held back on them to avoid crippling them, which only came to bite her in the behind since disabling the gang of boys was time-consuming. It was often a struggle to make it to class on time.

Whatever Naruto did to stop them he did well. The blond flexed his power, intimidating them like no police officer could.

They never bothered Akane again.

"Hmm. I suppose so," Naruto somewhat agreed with his eyes squinted, getting the nod from Kasumi before he pivoted on his heels to carry Soun off to the living room.

Kasumi followed him into the living room where she watched him place her sleeping father on the floor.

"Look, I'm gonna head on home. I need the rest. Don't worry about your old man here. He'll be fine after he gets some shut-eye," Naruto said nonchalantly, standing up after resting Soun on the ground.

Kasumi nodded, relieved that her father was going to be okay, though somewhere in the recess of her mind she couldn't help but be saddened that Naruto wasn't staying for dinner, "Oh? Won't you be staying for dinner, Naruto-kun?" Kasumi enquired quietly.

"I'll pass," Besides with how much Kasumi carried when she went shopping on her own they would need all the groceries they could save, "Got stuff to do, anyway. Maybe next time, alright?"

"Oh. Okay. I understand. Take care of yourself, Naruto-kun," Kasumi advised in her patented gentle fashion, getting a nod from Naruto, yet the blond young man kept on staring at her. From the look he was giving her, it was like he was expecting something from her, but for the life of her she couldn't make out what, "Yes?"

"My Jacket." Naruto mumbled, levelling a half-lidded stare at the gasping Kasumi, "You're like… you know, 'till wearing it."

"Oh my," Kasumi said, and despite the rush, the woman still purged Naruto's jacket from her person in a dignified manner, neatly folding it up, and hanging it over her arm, "Here you go."

Naruto frowned at the way Kasumi held out his jacket to him, "Really?" He deadpanned, taking his jacket from the smiling young woman, "You're not a servant, Kasumi," Naruto stated, coolly putting on his jacket and straightening it out in a boss-manner. He idly took notice to Kasumi's smile before turning around and tossing a wave over his shoulder.

"Well, it's been real. Later."

"Farewell Naruto-kun."

XxX

(Elsewhere – Dojo Hall – With Akane)

XxX

"Ha-yah!"

The sounds of Akane's notorious battle cry thundered, shaking even the mightiest heavens, as her hand came plummeting down on a training stone, effortlessly snapping it in two as if it was a mere wooden twig. The loud, obnoxious sound of shattering concrete rang out and went hand in hand with Akane's war cries.

Setting up another brick for utter annihilation she kept stacked up with the others on two thick bricks lay on the ground, and set a few inches apart from each other so they could act as a makeshift stand for the stone she wanted to destroy, the aspiring martial artist readied herself to do just that; decimate.

"Ha-yah!"

It felt good, it sounded sweet, the noise of a wrecking ball colliding with a solid brick wall and tearing through it like a hot knife through butter.

"Ha-yah!"

It was nice and exhilaratingly relieving chopping stoned chunks of bricks in half as easily as a normal non-super-powered martial artist cutting through a wooden board with his bare hand; though with how frail they would be without the additional training to make them somewhat super-human, Akane was sure their hands would be throbbing afterwards.

Not hers, though.

"Ha-yah!"

Her strength was quite impressive for someone who only participated in martial arts to keep in shape. Naruto figured her destructive power would at least be wall level plus, with Akane lacking in other areas, like speed, grace, agility, and overall battle prowess.

Thinking about her classmate almost brought a smile to her face as she brought her hand down on like the eighth stone she had shattered in two, although with noticeably less vigour than before but still more than enough to slice the brick in two. It was a toss-up with how she felt about Naruto.

On one hand she appreciated that he didn't flaunt his power in front of her, even when he flared-up his, 'power' to get the horny boys to cease with their stupid, pointless attacks on her, he actually downplayed it like it was nothing. Ironically, though, that just made her madder because she thought he was hiding something from her.

Naruto's lips seemed to be sealed as far as Akane could tell.

On the other hand it infuriated her knowing the strange powerhouse young man was holding back a whole lot of power in their spars, because even if she did not take martial arts as seriously as Naruto did, fact of the matter remained, she still trained hard to get as strong as she was. She wanted to be taken seriously, and recognized for her skill!

When Akane fought someone who she knew was purposely only using a mere fraction of his strength to go mano-a-mano with her, it felt like they were belittling her, even if they inflicted some bruises on her person.

It was insulting.

And she hated that.

She despised it!

It annoyed her to no end!

"Ha-yahhhhhhhhhh!"

And speak of the devil. Akane didn't even need to turn around to know who was standing behind her after he had made his presence known to her. She didn't even stop her training as she barked out a command in a grumpy manner, all in one smooth seamless motion, "Go away, Naruto! I'm busy!"

"Yeah. I can see that." Naruto mumbled, just loud enough for Akane to hear the awkwardness in his voice, 'Man! If she keeps on training the way she does, she's gonna be just as good, if not _better _than granny Tsunade ever was! Believe it. Haha.' Naruto chuckled in a silly fashion before cringing at the eruption of another poor stone.

"Y'know, you might wanna slow down, Akane-chan. You'll run outta bricks the way you're laying waste to 'em," Naruto said, trying to make pleasantry exchange with his friend as he ventured near her.

No dice. Akane was very anti-humorous, "I _don't _need your advice!" That was just like Sakura, but far more prideful.

That was disheartening to hear too, "Yeah." Naruto mumbled, watching Akane break another brick in half, rather unenthusiastically, "You're doing great though. Way to go, Akane-chan…" Naruto tried to sound excited, but getting the cold shoulder from Akane really drained him of any chirpiness.

Akane simply pouted the compliment off, seeing as Naruto could do more than this, thus it felt flat to her, "What do you want, Naruto? I'm busy in case you didn't get the message the first time." She told him grumpily, positioning another brick to shatter.

Naruto jerked his thumb in the direction of the exit, "I'm shooting off now, just wanted to let you know," He explained.

"Fine!" Akane grumped, chopping the brick in two, "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Naruto nodded, "Will you swing by mine so we can walk to school together?" He asked. That was what he really wanted to know. The thought of his friend not stopping by his place to drag his ass to school pegged at the lonely young man's mind.

"I'll think about it!" Akane offered nothing else as she went back to smashing bricks.

Naruto sighed, feeling disappointed he never got a definite answer, "Aw. That usually means no," He moaned like a kid who had been told he may or may not get ice cream on the way home, leaving the angered Akane to it by journeying out of the sliding doors leading to the open world.

When Akane was sure he was gone, she let her anger fade away, leaving a sympathetic expression on her face.

"Oh Naruto," She said, "Of course I'll pick you up, you idiot."

He may be an idiot, but he was her idiot at the end of the day.

xXx

(Nabiki's bedroom)

xXx

Be it woman's intuition or the fact her bedroom was positioned in a convenient spot, she had a pretty good view of the Tendo Dojo's back garden. She felt Uzumaki exiting the Tendo dojo, she saw Uzumaki distancing himself from the Tendo dojo, as he headed elsewhere.

As such the evil genius was already two steps ahead of the poor saps, planning on using them from the shadows so she could make more money. It was no secret that Akane and Naruto had a bond being that he was the first boy she'd known who had no interior motive to get in her panties like the other boys around Furinkan High School did. All the female-populace and most of the male-populace had already long-time figured-out that Naruto and Akane loved each other, but were they _in _love.

…That was another matter entirely.

Well, the clever Nabiki knew the answer to that, but no other sap did. The poor fools made it too easy for her to exhort them sometimes.

One side would argue Akane and Naruto were brother and sister in all but blood; those usually consisted of the male-populace speaking behind Naruto's back, and the other side concluded they were in love and that they would soon be together.

Ohhhh. The controversy was deliciously delightful and absolutely productive to Nabiki's mission to gain money for herself. The young woman was organizing betting pools on a monthly basis for 'pigeons' willing to try their luck guessing what day Akane and Naruto would officially be a couple within that time-span.

There was even a betting pool for young men and women willing to bet on the possibility of Akane's and Naruto's relationship falling flat on its face because Naruto was really some closet pervert in the disguise, with those often being the bane of Akane's existence Naruto did give off the subtle hint that he was a pervert like every other boy in school.

"The betting pools of little sis and Uzumaki are a hit. With the way things are going with my betting pools, the profit coming in from them will even eclipse my usual income from Kuno-baby," That didn't necessarily mean she was going to suddenly stop using the illusion samurai-boy, second strongest in Furinkan High School with his destructive capacity scaled to fairly huge boulder-level, according to Naruto, Furinkan High School's finest warrior.

And little sis and Uzumaki will be none the wiser.

Nabiki finalized with a predator smirk.

XxX

(Zoo)

XxX

"Ah."

"We've done the right thing."

"Now Mr Panda can be safe from blond American maniacs."

"Yeah. He looks so at home as well."

"Mommy, Mr Panda looks sad. Why is that?"

"Oh dear, he's just play acting. Don't be silly."

*I'm not a panda.* The now dubbed Mr Panda majestically pulled out a sign from somewhere on his person, tears running down his eyes, while the civilians standing outside of his cage seemed amazed at his ability to do so, *Let me out! Pandas everywhere order you to let me go!* He flipped his sign around to reveal more words.

"Wow, mommy! Mr Panda can talks!"

"He's so intelligent."

"Ha! He thinks he's people!"

"It's adorable!"

"Throw him some more bamboo sticks!"

Whether or not Mr Panda was really a panda or not was still up to debate, (so he liked to believe) he still greedily snatched the bamboo stick out of the air with his mouth and proceeding to chew on it, getting a round of applause from his audience.

*I have to get out of here so I can find the boy, and bring him to Tendo's. Our legacy's at stake here and m'boy can't be choosy about women anyway. It's win-win!* Mr Panda's sign read and he flipped it around to reveal more words, *But how to get out of here.* After a moment's thought he had an idea. He stood up to his feet and chucked that old sign away, setting himself in a stance. The crowd were left utterly amazed by the magnitude of a heavenly ocean-coloured glow encasing Mr Panda's body like a suit of armour, lighting up his eyes to make him look truly formidable.

He summoned up another sign from somewhere, *Saotome Anything Goes Special Attack!* The anticipation was mounting as the crowd held their breaths, waiting for the spectacular to moment. That seemed to be the case when the Panda flipped his sign around, *Hadoken!* Only to launch himself head first into the steel bars.

He was pancaked to the ground of the confines of his cell with X's for eyes.

"Uhm. Mr Panda, are you okay?"

Silence reigned supreme as the stunned and disappointed audience eyed the knocked out panda, until a man decided to kick silence right off of its high throne.

"What a fail."

Enough said.


	10. Naruto in Ranma Part 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Ranma 1/2**

* * *

><p>"Damn it. *cough* Why is the stench *cough* in here *cough* always so damn strong!? *Cough* Cough* *Cough*"<p>

The blond-haired Uzumaki ranted, having left the hospitality of the Tendos and journeyed over to a small little hut-like shop around the back of a cheap fast-food restaurant known as Cluckin-bell and a bank building. For secrecy reasons the shop was built at the back and out of the sights of any passing civilians, more specifically, the fuzz.

Not that Naruto minded, but it sure was a bitch to have to squeeze through the space in between Cluckin-bell and the bank building in order to get to the shop. The guy who ran the establishment didn't seem to bear any problems fitting through the small given space to reach his shop, made all the more evident by the fucking Scooby Doo-like van sitting cosily outside of his shop. Seriously, how did he get that there? Whenever Naruto asked him about that he would just drone off with his stoned-look, the friggin' lazy-ass.

That aside Naruto could hardly make out a damn thing within the guy's shop, what with the smoke obscuring his vision and giving off a strong stench.

He was only able to clearly navigate his way over to the elevated step where a dark-skinned man sat on a beanbag due to the fact it was a small shop, with lots of loaded guns, such as pistols on one side of the wall, followed by submachine guns on the other side, and bazookas perched comfortably above the guy's head in the centre wall.

Other than those weapons of mass destruction there were some more illegal weapons, such as grenades, smoke bombs, pocket-knifes, the works, all settled in museum-like glass cases placed separate from each other so one could walk through the gap in between them as if they were in a convenience-store.

Once Naruto approached the single elevated step, the man lazing around merely lifted up his head, a roguish grin on his face with a spliff in his hand.

He had black stubble positioned on his chin, matching his messy sideburns, and thick, long dreadlocks stretching down past his shoulders. His eyes, while half-lidded, were clad in black sunglasses, the top part of his head was covered by a colourful rasta-hat. He flexed a golden chain around his neck, an orangey-yellowish short-sleeved t shirt clearly too big on his skinny posture, green pants, and white sneakers fitted on his feet.

"Yo, raclart; why ya not come visit me with yer little badman-self?" He asked in a Jamaican accent, giving Naruto a playful hit in the gut to which the blonde shrugged off.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, Smokes? I do come here, damn it! It's just that you haven't had much work for me lately!" Naruto retorted indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest, "If you did, then I didn't hear about it from doc."

The nicknamed Smokes relaxingly sat back on his beanbag before taking a drag of his spliff, "So ya only come down when ya in need of di greens, yeah? You little wretch. Me understand, tho, money be tight these days, seen?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up to my eyeballs in bills," Naruto said, stressing out at the mention of his aforementioned money problems, pulling at his golden-locks with a comical set of tears pouring from his eyes, "I can't even afford any quality ramen! Nope! All I can get is the shit kind from the gas station thingamajig!"

The Jamaican chuckled at the blond-assassin's quirks. For a mercenary for hire Naruto was odd, but Smokes couldn't deny he could get the job done. He was first recommended the blond when a regular of Smokes' sent Naruto over to pick up his batch of marijuana, not wanting to be caught in such a rough area of where Smokes had set up shop himself.

He was sceptical at first about hiring the blond, but his regular assured him Naruto was more than capable of getting the job done, so Smokes sent Naruto on an easy mission. Nothing major, it was just to see how he handled the ropes, and boy was Smokes wrong about the kid.

He was proficient.

Naruto didn't even use any guns, yet still had an impressive one-hundred percent successful mission-ratio, even went stacked up against adversaries who wielded guns.

The blond was something else star...

"One love, mon, ease up," Smokes said when he noticed his laughter of the blond had earned him his ire, "You're in luck, mon, me got a mission for you. Seen."

Naruto's eyes lit up, "Really?" Smokes nodded, and the fox-faced shinobi exploded with happiness, "Alright! Finally, another mission! I can get my hands on some cash, and-." He drooled out of the mouth, looking dramatically relieved, "-Chow down on some real ramen! Believe it!"

"Ease up, bredrin," Smokes said, recommending the blond to settle down. He took another drag of his spliff, then tucked it behind his ear.

Naruto gave him a sheepish smile, "My bad, I just can't help myself, y'know? I'm just so excited! Finally, I'mma get me some cash to eat! Just tell me the mission, Smokes, and leave it to me. I'll have it complete in no time flat!"

"Ah-rite bad-man, that's what me likes about you, mon. Yah get shit done, mon, seen," Smokes complimented, fishing around the back of his beanbag.

Naruto had a sunny smile on his features, "Yay, yay, Smokes! I like you too, you good people!" He felt confusion slip on his face when a scroll basically fell into his grip from how seamlessly he had plucked it out of the air, right after Smokes had thrown it at him, "What's this?"

Smokes kissed his teeth, unsheathing his spliff from his ear, "The mission, mon," Smokes took out a lighter from his pocket before using it to light up his spliff, taking a drag of It, "'Em facety triads mons be startin' trouble up on my turf, rude-boy."

"-And you want me to put 'em jerks in their places," Naruto interrupted with a sagely nod of his head, arms crossed over his chest.

Smokes nodded, "Bumbaclart mon, yer on fire! Teach 'em raclarts a lesson in humility!" Naruto was raring go, the blond smacking his fist into his palm for added emphasis, "One more thing tho, yer little bad-man. Word on the street 'em triads got a shipment of coke-."

"Say no more!" Naruto jumped the gun in a hyperactive fashion, causing Smokes to stare at him blankly, waiting for him to finish what he was going to say for him, "Woops," Naruto blinked in sudden realization, rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manner, "Actually, say more. I really don't know where you're going with this, hehe."

"Me know ya firing to go, mon, seen. But ease up 'till me finish, bredrin," Smokes recommended, getting a nod from the rather happy-looking Naruto.

"Okay, I'm sorry, it's just…" Naruto wobbled about slightly, his eyes lowered in a half-lidded manner, complete with a dopey smile, "Whenever I walk in here, Smokes, I feel like I'm on cloud nine! Believe itttttt…" The cheery-stoned Uzumaki elucidated.

"Dat be di ganja goin' to yer head, rude-boy," Smokes explained.

"Is that it?" Naruto asked cheerfully, feeling like he was flying through the clouds, over to a big, massive pool of delicious barbeque pork ramen, "This place is the bomb! I should bring Akane-chan down here one day, she might even stop being mad, and all that at me."

"Yo, my man got himself a little girl on di side." Smokes complimented.

Naruto was visibly embarrassed, made evident by his rapidly flailing hands, "Ahhh! She's not my g-girlfriend, though I would like her to be," he chuckled bashfully, "She's like… best friend, you know?"

"Ease up, bredrin," Smokes recommended, "Me understand, seen? Ya got a little 'fren-ship goin' on with dis Akane-shorty, seen. Yah not wanna do anythin' to ruin dat bond between yah two, seen. Me see it." Naruto nodded his head in recognition of Smokes' rationalization of his relationship with Akane regardless of Smokes' accent. After chilling with his Uncle Bee and quickly grasping his rapping mechanisms, understanding Smokes' was the equivalent of taking a stroll in the park.

"But memba dis bredrin; just because yah not feeling her now, seen, don't mean yah won't in di near future. Yah got to keep an open mind, yah see it? Anythin' can change in due time. Seen? Yah need to Jus' keep di faith mon." Smokes advised, earning himself another nod of the head from the normally very optimistic young man.

Smokes, despite his flaws, was clearly a man of wisdom, who the blond looked up to, because he made things less awkward between them with how easy he could read Naruto, completing the puzzle of his mystery, before laying it out to Naruto in such simplistic forms even Naruto would never fail to understand them.

Most of all he told Naruto to stay aboard on the optimistic train.

"You don't need to tell me twice, Smokes!" Naruto assured with a confident grin.

"Ah-rite, bredrin; dat be the Naruto me used to seeing. Seen. Yah be a beacon of light for di people to follow, god bless," Smokes said, causing a forlorn look to appear on Naruto's face, with the blond shifting his head to the side so Smokes wouldn't see his pitiful expression.

Smokes almost sighed; even to his knowledge he could not grasp how such a powerful man had seemed to lose nearly all hope within himself, "Look, go along and get yourself some rest bredrin. Di shipment of di coke won't be here till tomorrow anyway, seen? Me want yah to run up in dey' and storm di place. Afterwards bring di coke to area 12. Bad-man be waitin' dey to take it off your hands, seen?"

Naruto smiled faintly at the mention of Smokes' partner-in-crime, "Ah! How's Uncle Four-eyes doing? How comes he isn't here? Is he on a job or something? I figured he would be here you know."

"Yeah, Bad man is ah-rite. Ease-up, bwoy."

Naruto nodded chirpily, "Okey-dokey! I best be hitting the road! I got… _school_ tomorrow, and Akane-chan may or may not pick me up," He said, sounding noticeably less happy, and more grumpy, his bottom lip sticking out, "So I need to hit the sack. Tell Uncle Specs I said hi, will-ya?" Naruto spun on his heels, slowly beginning to raise his arm to toss a wave over his shoulder.

"Hold up, bwoy," Smokes urged, halting Naruto in his tracks, a curious expression coming to his face upon finally seeing the lazy smoking man sit up straight.

"Yeah. What's up, Smokes, ya need anything?" Naruto asked in a inquisitive tone.

"Yeah. Me gonna say it was a good thing yah came over when yah did, 'cause your teach rang me earlier, seen. Said something about needing another ounce of ganja and dat I need to send yah, bwoy, down to school with a twenty next time I be seeing yah. Seen?" Smokes explained, rising to his feet with a groan while Naruto absorbed the information.

Naruto let out a noise of understanding, "Doctor Crazy pants finished his stash already? But the last time I checked I delivered an eighty to him like two weeks ago. Damn. He's into that more than I am into ramen!" Naruto lifted up his shoulders in a shrug, "Oh well, just means more money for me."

"Ah-rite bwoy, dat's di way yah oughta be looking at life. Seen? Yah too bright to be down di dumps, see it? One day, me believes yah make sum'ady lucky to have yah. Me see it now. Gals already be throwing themselves at yah. Me betcha any amount of money yah be getting married in a minimum of six years, tops. When dat day comes just make sure yah invite Bad-man and I," Naruto let off a bark of laughter, slapping his knee for added emphasis. When he settled down, he answered his boss-like friend in a flippant tone.

"Don't worry, if that day comes, you and Uncle Specs will be the first ones on my invite list! I'll even be down here quicker than the flash. Believe it."

"Seen. Guess me can't call yah a rude-boy if yah gonna come down here personally to invite bad-man and myself to your wedding. 'Till, yah might want to consider getting yourself a mobile, see it? Dat way, bad-man or I can get in touch with yah quicker than usual, seen?"

"Yeah. I'm kinda flat broke at the minute. Once I get some money in my pockets, I'll consider buying one."

XxX

(Moments later)

"Later, Smokes! I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Galang, rude-boy!"

Stepping out of Smokes' little marijuana-scented shop, the cloudy sky now pitched black, Naruto now wielded a regular, nondescript looking sack bag over his shoulder. The whisker-faced shinobi gazed up at the misty sky, barely making out the oddly-placed silver crescent moon - to his eyes. In some ways, he was glad for the oddity that was the unfamiliar colouring of this world's moon. It kept his mind off of his old world.

Last thing Naruto needed was to be reminded of his failures.

Besides, Smokes would give him another sound lecture about riding the colourful rainbow of optimism and to steer well, and truly clear of the dark, lonely depression road to emo-town. Naruto didn't need to give that any thought. He liked looking at the brighter side of the spectrum all the time anyway. He was so drugged-up on confidence he naively believed nothing could go wrong for him at one point in his life.

Kaguya's victory over the blond-ninja had given him a different outlook on life.

Now he could say he was pragmatic in some sense.

"Hmm," Naruto contemplated, sensing the same Tenten-level of chakra he had met with Kasumi earlier on, "What's little firecracker 'till doing around here? I thought she said she was heading to China, or something," Squinting his eyes, the fox-faced, former leaf-soldier took a moment to think pensively on the matter relating to Ranma and her reasons for lingering around Japan when she stated she was heading off to China.

Naruto concluded thinking hurt.

"Oh well! It's not my problem! I'm sure she's fine."

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

**Riding on Cloud Nine**

* * *

><p>xXx<p>

(The Next Day - Tendo Dojo - with Kasumi)

xXx

"Hmm."

The matriarch of the Tendo Dojo was once again up bright and early keeping her father's home spick and span while humming such a delightful and peaceful tune even the chirping birds on the outside world would envy her to some extent. It was what she always did, ever since her mother had passed away, which resulted in her father having a collateral breakdown.

Poor father - Being the eldest daughter sometimes had its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side of the spectrum Kasumi had the most memories of their mother, while Nabiki had some flashes of the good old days where (their) mom was still alive and Akane only one vague memory of those days where they were all together, as a family.

The poor dear's memory of that day was fuzzy at best.

There may have been a silver-lining in the lack of memories of Mom for Akane, that being she can't remember their mother well enough because she was not old enough at the time of her death to contain those memories. There for the loss of their mother affected the youngest Tendo significantly less than it did Nabiki and Kasumi, the latter of which took it the hardest.

Kasumi admired her mother for her benevolence and how she always seemed to be a pillar of strength even in the darkest of times. When she passed away, it took the tears of her father to calm Kasumi down.

As much as she herself was suffering inside from her role model's death she knew she couldn't cry anymore, not with her father on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Soun was already noticeably drained of any enthusiasm upon returning from his 'training trip' with his master and a fellow trainee, the death of his wife pushed him over the edge. Fortunately, his eldest daughter stepped into those massive shoes left behind by his deceased wife and picked up the mantle of looking after her family.

It was really difficult at first as Kasumi would kindly supply, but little by little she grew into her role of provider for her family. Her mother's cook book really worked wonders for her. Now cooking and cleaning for her family was as natural as breathing for the demure house-lady.

"Well, this is my cue to exit!" When Kasumi turned her head to the side at the sound of Nabiki's voice, followed by her hurrying footsteps, she found her little sister sprinting down the stairs dressed in a white short-sleeved blouse underneath a long light blue dress, with her feet clad in white socks. Once Nabiki hit ground-level, she slipped on her shoes that were positioned in the middle of Akane's and Kasumi's.

Kasumi paused, straightening her broom up to look at her little sister with innocent curiosity, "Leaving so soon?"

Once the front door was thrown open, Nabiki halted in her progress, turning her head over her shoulder, a cheeky smile on her face, "I'm trying to avoid Akane's lunch." Although a frown did occur on Kasumi's features, she did nod her head in acceptance upon hearing this, politely urging Nabiki to carry on with a small wave of her hand.

Nabiki didn't need a second invitation.

She was gone like the wind.

Another added responsibility Kasumi would benevolently see through to the end; teaching her youngest sister how to cook. Akane had a strong interest in cooking, she always had. The youngest Tendo, much like her oldest sister Kasumi, also shared the desire to be a traditional house lady, but often just came off as… unusual.

It didn't help matters when her best friend appeared to like her sister's cooking more than hers, even if he didn't outright say so. His facial expression was more than enough in this instance.

Turning her head back to the direction of the stairs at the sound of more descending footsteps, Kasumi gave her approaching youngest sister her signature smile of infinite kindness, "My, good morning imouto. Did you sleep okay?"

"I slept great oneesama!" Akane smiled brightly, her attire pretty much consisted of the one Nabiki was wearing, only with the additional blue wrist-high jacket.

Seeing Akane in such high spirits, Kasumi offered the girl a delightful drone with her ever-present smile glued to her face.

"Did Nabiki leave already?" Akane enquired.

"Yes," With her smile now off of her face, Kasumi attempted to explain Nabiki's reasoning for leaving without her in a way that wouldn't hurt Akane's feelings, "She said needed to see…" Akane tilted her head cutely to the side at her sister's slurring speech, "-The principal." A look of confusion adorned Akane's face, "Vice principal."

Akane made an O with her mouth before shaking her head, "That girl, she could've waited for me. Now she's gonna miss out on my cooking!" She smirked, "Well I guess that means more for Naruto!" She held up her hands, clenching them into fists, eager for the challenge to make a dish Naruto would enjoy, "This time I know I'll get the ingredients right!"

Kasumi could only offer her little sister another smile as she silently wished her (and Naruto) all the best.

XxX

(Elsewhere – Naruto's apartment)

XxX

Naruto's apartment wasn't anything out of the ordinary; just a simple nondescript two bedroom apartment. He had the barest necessities like a medium television, a cheap, second-hand white refrigerator, a white microwave - also second-hand - a used white stove, a white kettle, a white toaster, and a white cheese grill, all of which were bought second-hand.

In fact, almost everything Naruto owed barring the clothes in his (second hand) wardrobe was second-hand. From his single bed, to his single set of chest-draws, to his wardrobe, and to his living room furniture such as a single black two seated sofa, a coffee table, and a stand for his television. All of the blond's furniture had all been used before the blond had even laid eyes on them.

The moral of the blonde's dilemma was simply money was not easy to get your hands on.

Well at least his apartment was mildly furnished, so there was always that. Even now, at the crack of dawn or whatever time it was, Naruto was using one of his used-before-furniture to count ramen.

"_Zzzzzzzzzzzzz_…" Naruto snored loudly. Sprawled out messily on his single bed, with his orange sheets falling off of himself, which revealed his orange boxes, drool slid shamelessly out of his mouth, "Sixty-seven ramen, sixty-eight ramen, sixty-nine ramen, seventy ramen…" Naruto counted, mumbling his lips.

Not even the sound of rattling metal could arouse the blond from his slumber, or that squeaky sound his door made whenever he or someone else had ventured through his door, or the huff of an annoyed feminine voice - no, no, no, he wasn't getting up for the world-.

"Naruto!"

Wait. Was that Akane-chan he could hear?

"Naruto!"

There was her voice again, followed by the slamming of his front door, then the inevitable approaching footsteps.

"You'd better not still be in bed, knucklehead!"

At Akane's warning, Naruto drowsily reached for his sheets, drawing them over his head just before the inevitable light coming from his now open door could penetrate the darkness of his room.

A deep, mischievous snicker rang out inside of his head, "**Wherever you go, there's always one tsundere to keep you whipped, eh Naruto?**" Kurama said teasingly.

'As a memorial to Uncle Bee; shut up, fool,' Naruto mumbled back mentally, scowling at the mocking laughter of all the bijuus echoing throughout his head. He just knew he was going to earn Akane's fury for this one.

"Really?" Akane deadpanned, a handbag hanging from her left shoulder, and her fists hammered on her hips, "Do you plan on sleeping through the whole day?"

"Not here."

"Uh-uh. Then why can I hear your voice coming from underneath your bed as well as see your bare legs?" Akane pointed out with an expression as clear as day in the form of annoyance on her face.

The sound of the birds chirping in the distance was her only answer.

"Uh-uh. As I thought," Akane said, deepening her scowl, and stomping over to Naruto, "C'mon! School isn't going to be open all day, you have to get up!" She said in a demanding tone, grabbing the sheets on the blonde's bed in an attempt to pry them off of his person.

"No. Don't wanna!" Even though she couldn't see the deity level ninja's face the blue haired young woman was sure he was pouting underneath them while simultaneously keeping a tight grip on his blankets.

"Ugh! Quit being such a baby, Naruto!" Akane commanded, her face scrunching up with the excess force she was exerting in trying to tear the sheets off of Naruto.

"No! I won't! You're just gonna yell at me." Retorted Naruto, "Frankly, It isn't worth the effort. Not when I can just stay here and sleep all day, haha! Then I'll stuff my face with ramen!"

Akane abruptly quitted in her endeavour of relieving Naruto of his sheets, "I can't believe you!" She stomped her foot on the ground, "Fine! Stay here then! See if I care if you get detained! I'll be happily chowing on cooking better than ramen!" While she knew Naruto loved no food better than his precious ramen, she also knew the blond would take the bait.

Case-in-point Naruto finally threw the covers off of his head, revealing a tired look in his eyes, and his messy spiky Super Saiyan-blond coloured hair, "Eh?" Was Naruto's oh so intelligent response, "What are you talking about? No food's better than ramen!" He said with a dopey, roguish smile on his face.

"Then come to school and find out." Akane countered, hands back firmly on her hips.

Naruto's suspicious gaze fell upon his friend like a police officer eyeing a thief, "Oh no, you're trying to trick me. Aren't ya? Admit it! I got your number." Akane ended up rolling her eyes at her friend, "Besides that I ain't got time for school! If I go, I'll just end up getting an ear-full from you after I rearrange that loony samurai-guy's face."

"I wouldn't give you an 'ear-full' if you would just quit engaging upperclassman Kuno, Naruto!" Akane retorted.

Naruto sat up fully on his bed, crossing his legs, a frown marring his face. Akane simply ignored the fact that he was only in his boxes, "Hey! He starts it though," He grumbled sourly, "I mean if I don't deal with the guy he'll just keep on harassing the both of us!"

"Then just ignore him!" Akane suggested in a tolerance sort of manner, making the blond increase his frown.

That was her answer to everything; just turn a blind eye and blank the ones bugging you.

"That's a lot easier said than done, Akane-chan," Naruto said, feeling noticeably deflated, as noted by the sigh which escaped his lips.

Seeing Naruto's stubbornness put to rest for the time being, Akane allowed her anger to take a back seat for a patient, but otherwise stern expression, "Well you're going to have to try," Akane comforted, walking over to the side of Naruto's bed to take a seat nimbly, "Otherwise the teachers will eventually decide enough is enough and throw you out of school."

"Then what?"

"Well, you'd end up working in a fast food restaurant for minimum wage for one," Akane said with a smirk despite feeling righteous fury swell up inside of her at Naruto's nonchalant response to her warning of him getting booted out of school, "Then you'll never get the chance to leave this place." She gestured to all around them, "I'm sure you don't want that, do you knucklehead?"

He really didn't. The sharp look of realization that appeared on his face complete with widened eyes spoke volumes, "Mannnnn," Naruto drawled out, "I really wasn't thinking of that." The blond never thought. Never. And Akane knew that fact just as well as she knew the back of her hand, but besides that it seemed she was going to emerge victorious from this war.

"So are you coming to school?" Akane's smirk could've made Tsunade's proud.

Naruto sighed, resigning himself to his defeat, "Got no choice anyway. I sort of promised Kasumi I would be at school with you yesterday," He stated, lazily crawling off of his bed, and to his feet, "Just lemme have a quick shower and we'll be good to go, k Akane-chan."

"Good!" Akane declared triumphantly, basically allowing her adrenaline with her victory over Naruto to glide her over to the door, "It's a good thing I came over early, eh Naruto. Otherwise I don't think anyone would want to sit next to you if I had come over any later," Akane was just looking _too _innocently cheery now.

"Yeah. You're the best."

"Humph. And don't you forget it."

XxX

(Later)

XxX

Furinkan High School had its good points, but sometimes its low points, yet in this scenario one could find the blond moodily making his way to school with his friend in tow, not wearing the official school uniform of Furinkan High School, but his own personal clothes picked out of his wardrobe.

It was one of the finer things he could think positively about regarding his school, the fact that none of the teachers or the vice principal sought to make it a rule to wear school uniform. They tried to encourage students to wear their official uniforms, to which most seem to do, probably because they had strict parents.

Delinquents tended to show up in their street clothes more often than not, though, like Naruto, who wore a long-sleeved orange dress shirt, over a sleeveless white tank top, a pair of medium blue jeans, his old black shinobi toeless-sandals fitted neatly on his feet, and his eyes were clad in a pair of black sunglasses to help keep the bangs out of his eyes.

"Honestly," Akane groused out in a miffed fashion as she and Naruto sauntered alongside the canal. She idly noticed Naruto steal a brief glance at a redhead casually ambling on the thin fence prohibiting people from entering the canal, "Are you ever going to wear your uniform at least once?"

Naruto huffed, straightening his school bag coolly slung over his shoulder, his glare darkening in the direction of a familiar chakra signature, "Well she isn't wearing her uniform," He muttered like a kid who'd been told not to do something while another kid was doing the exact same thing but getting away with it.

Akane passed a blinking gaze at the redhead, but quickly returned her furious pout on Naruto, "That's not the point, Naruto!" Her screech elicited a flinch from the redhaired girl, who nearly fell off of the fence-line, but her expert balance held her up.

Once Ranma spun around, she ended up giving a certain whisker-faced gaijin a widen-eyed gaze, 'It's him,' She narrowed her eyes, a surly expression forming on her face with the remembrance of her earlier defeat at the hands of Naruto coming to her mind, 'Mr Big Shot, eh. Uhhhh, he can shove that fluke up his butt. It was nothin'.' Ranma told herself, crossing her arms.

When she looked back she found Naruto and his blue haired lady friend still approaching her, though with the way they were bickering back and forth Ranma figured they were anything but friends.

A devious idea formed in her head, 'Ahh. That could work,' She smirked, flicking the bridge of her nose with her thumb, 'Alright, Goldie-locks, it's payback time.' She took a deep breath, before bending down in a squatting position with her hand positioned on her cheek, trying to look innocent.

She even batted her eyelashes to feign a sparkling radiance of happiness.

Once Naruto and Akane stopped right by her, Naruto turned his head slightly away from his school friend, using his eyes to look up in the redhead's direction, "What do you want?" His tone clearly indicated he never had any time for this.

"Awww, I'm hurt Goldie locks. 'N here I thought we had such a deep connection," Ranma teased, 'Ack. I could'na been any cheesier had I packed down a truck load of the stuff. Man, I jus' hope the sap will be stupid enough ta fall fer my ploy,' Ranma mused, grimacing mentally.

"Huh? Goldie locks," Naruto said, looking unimpressed with Akane glancing at the two of them curiously, "Whatever happened to whiskers?" He didn't miss the small cringe the redhead in front of him underwent.

"It's either that or rat-face," Ranma expertly swayed away from the topic of whiskers potentially reminding her of one of her greatest fears, and in the process she received a glare from Naruto. Though that wasn't what caught her attention; it was the fuming of Naruto's blue haired lady friend.

'Sucker! Oh snap, I should get myself my own reality show with the roll I'm on. Now I jus' hafta play the waitin' game. Any minute now, 'n I betcha Miss Angry Pants will smack Goldie locks six ways ta Sunday!' Ranma boasted to herself.

"Aw, shut up!" Naruto commanded, turning away from Ranma. He was definitely not a mouse. If anything he was a mighty tiger, because that would piss off Kurama real good.

Naruto felt his glare slip off of his face at the sight of a raging Akane, "Hey, Akane-chan? What's up?" He asked in an inquisitive tone.

"Who is she?" Akane demanded with her hands stamped on her hips, giving the smirking redhead a pointed look.

'Worked like a charm!' Ranma grinned in a winning fashion, snickering.

Naruto just seemed confused by Akane's sudden anger, "What? Nobody!"

"Well she seems to know you real well!" Akane retorted.

"Oh, Me 'n Goldie locks are tight alright," Ranma spoke up, seeing this as her chance to put the final nail in the coffin. With a hop, the redhead fell nimbly from the fence to the annoyed glares of Akane and Naruto, "Ya can say we're closer than two buds can be," Ranma sent a suggestive wink at Akane, causing her to gnash her teeth and clench her fists.

Ranma just expertly tamed her laughter before it could erupt from her mouth to look in Naruto's direction, putting on her best seductive tone, "Right, _pal_."

"Damn it! Would you stop doing that?" Naruto yelled indignantly, and by this time Akane had lowered her head with her entire body shaking from the radiating fury coursing through her veins as if she was powering up.

Ranma blinked her eyes in mock innocence, "Whatever d'you mean lover-boy?" Throwing her head back, Ranma placed the back of her hand to her forehead to put on the pity act, "Aww, and I thought the magic between us meant more ta ya than a magic lamp with a genie in it ta grant ya any three wishes ya want too," She sighed in an obvious, overly dramatic way, "Guess I'm jus' another fish in the sea ta ya, eh Goldie locks."

"I knew it!" Naruto flinched at Akane's bellow, "Nabiki was right all along!"

"Akane-chan!" Naruto tried. Ugh. Nabiki was evil and Naruto knew it. But no one would believe him. To the people who Naruto was trying to reveal Nabiki's devilish nature to, he was like a small child crying wolf.

"Save it!" Akane sharply pivoted around on her heels, "You can stay here with your new friend and die for all I care! I'm going to school! Humph!"

"But wait! She's lying! I only met her yesterday with Kasumi! You gotta believe me! Believe me!" Naruto shouted in a pleading manner, but Akane just huffed and continued to march away from him.

Naruto immediately turned his irritation to the cause of this, "You bitch!" And Ranma was just grinning in a cocky fashion at him.

Well, she was smirking at him until she found herself on the receiving end of a forceful tackle so fast she couldn't even see the blond move. All she felt was her back slammed up against the fence with a ferocious Naruto staring fiercely at her with a raging fiery inferno in his eyes.

"It was a joke! A joke! Can't ya take a joke?!" Ranma yelped with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her cheek. She could feel her feet leaving the ground with a pair of knuckles grinding into her chin, 'R-Rats! G-Goldie l-locks is strong! I… can't get him off of me!' Ranma thought with a strained expression on her face.

"I don't like being laughed at!" Naruto roared. With a twist of his heels, and an effortless pull of his arms, Naruto sent Ranma hurtling towards a brick wall like a full on missile.

"Kyaaaa!"

A shriek of terror erupted from Ranma's throat and tears flew from her eyes, before she exploded head first into the solid concrete wall, not only catching the retreating Akane's attention but also causing debris dust to scatter throughout the air.

"Huff, huff," Naruto wheezed, the rush of adrenaline leaving his system for the time being, "And stay down!"

"Naruto!" Akane stomped back over to Naruto with a pout, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Naruto folded his arms across his chest, his eyes squinted as his disdain for Ranma only grew, "She was asking for it I tell you!" He opened up his eyes to give the dispensing dust a scowl, "She was trying to make us go at each other's throats, Akane-chan!"

"Well you didn't have to throw her into a brick wall, dummy!" Akane shouted in a scolding manner, turning a worrying gaze to the victim of Naruto's merciless punishment, "You went too far, Naruto! What if she's hurt, huh? Ever think of that?"

Naruto let out a derisive snort, "So what? Who cares? The asshole deserved it!" As the dust settled to reveal a ferociously glaring and bruised Ranma, Akane released a contemptuous puff, straightening her head before walking away from Naruto, "What? What'd I do now, Akane-chan?" He complained, setting his eyes on the glaring Ranma.

"Damn you!" Ranma coughed out.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ranma gazed at the sound of Akane's sweet enquiring question to find Akane gazing down at her with a smile on her face. She reminded Ranma of that Kasumi-lady from yesterday, "I'm sorry about my knuckleheaded friend. He's just a grump, feel free to ignore him!" Akane suggested sweetly, bending down to offer the girl a hand.

Ranma blinked her eyes, doing a double take. She contemplated whether she should or shouldn't accept Akane's hand, because after all she did more or less gloat in front of her that she and Naruto were an item.

'I think I'm gonna barf,' Ranma thought. Rats, she degraded herself to flirt with a jerk of _masculinity_ *gagging sounds* and for what? To get her ass jammed into the wall like a pancake! This blows!

"Huh?" Akane said, a little deterred with Ranma's response, or lack-of, she should say.

Ranma blinked her eyes one more time as if it was like an imaginary pinch to make sure she wasn't dreaming, "Oh," Ranma returned with a sheepish grin, putting her hand on Akane's one, 'Guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.' Akane smiled, pulling the redhead to her feet in such an effortless manner, it proceeded to leave a surprised, bizarre expression on Ranma's face, 'Yikes, that's sum arm she's got. Is she like the she-hulk or sumthin'?'

"Sorry," The apologetic-sounding Akane laughed awkwardly, waving her hand in a placating gesture in the hopeful attempt she could ease the tension off of the redhead's shoulders, "My friends say all the time that I don't know my own strength."

"I'll say," Naruto mumbled nonchalantly in the background, yet was ignored by the two ladies.

"Meh. No biggie. I can hack it. No problemo!" Ranma assured confidently, but cringed from a surge of pain which coursed through her body, "Kyaaa!"

"Be careful!" Akane recommended more harshly than she had originally intended, while she steadied the redhead by taking her arm and swinging it over her shoulder, "You still haven't recovered from a certain… _someone's _throw," She growled with an emphasis on the word 'someone' while giving a glare in that _someone's _direction, "Just take it easy, okay!"

"Yeah, good lookin' out," Ranma said in a rather weak dejected tone of voice, 'Aw, man! This blows! How could I let Goldie locks wreck my ass this bad!?' If Pop ever found out she had got her shit wrecked in he would be so disappointed, 'I'll just hafta invoke my rematch clause 'n make sure I wipe the playground with him the next time we duke it out!' Yeah. Then she would be the best again, 'Sides, If I had sum hot water on me Goldie locks woulda been nothin' ta me!'

"Okayyyyyy," Akane drawled out, a little unsure of what to think of Ranma's snickering other than to gloss over it entirely, "Anyway, I'm Akane Tendo," Akane introduced herself with a smile, putting a thoughtful expression on Ranma's face. "What's your name?"

"Tendo?"

"Yes," Akane confirmed, looking at her potential new friend with a playful smirk on her features, feigning a threatening tone, "Is that a problem?"

"Oh no," Ranma replied in a jesting manner, having caught the gist of the pleasantry exchange Akane was offering her, "It's jus' I think I mighta met yer sis, Kasumi Tendo," This earned Ranma a blinking look of confusion from Akane, "Name's Ranma Saotome by the way. It's nice ta meetcha."

And suddenly it all came together like a complete puzzle.

"Ranma!" Akane gasped out.

"Huh? Is it sumthin I said?"

Akane sent a heated glare at Naruto, "Why didn't you tell me this was Ranma!"

Naruto just stabbed one of his hands into his pockets, using one to continuously support his two-strapped backpack, "What's the big deal? I don't see the problem here." Naruto mumbled, ambling over to the two girls.

"Well you could've told me you know. I hate being the last one to know something!" Akane whined.

"She kinda has a point there Goldie locks," Ranma agreed, a teasing smirk on her face.

Akane just gave Ranma a scrutinizing gaze. She couldn't tell whether the redhead was _unbelievably _courageous, or just a straight-up moron for trying to antagonize Naruto. After seeing how Naruto effortlessly made a gaping hole in the wall with Ranma's body, it was as clear as day that Naruto could destroy Ranma with both of his arms tied behind his back.

Did Ranma want a beating or something?

Annoying Naruto _was not _in her best interest.

"I know if I were her I wouldn't wanna be left outta the loop either," Ranma continued her witticism, "Or the last one to the party, y'know?"

"What did either of you want me to say?" Thankfully, Naruto took it all in stride, "Something like this, 'Hey, Akane-chan! There's Ranma, the girl who your dad planned to pawn either you or one of your sisters off to, believe it'." Naruto quipped, not missing Ranma flinch and send an angry glare at him, 'Hmm. I wonder what she's so angry about.'

"Grrr, stupid daddy," Akane growled sourly, forcing her ire to take a backseat so she could offer her new friend an explanation, "Sorry, Ranma. My stupid daddy planned to marry you to either me or one of my sisters without even knowing you! Can you believe that?"

"Yeah. Pop hurled my butt from China ta here while keepin' his lips zipped the whole way."

"Humph. I guess that proves we both have a couple of jerks for daddies."

"Yer tellin' me; they're both nothin' but a pair of A-class assholes."

XxX

(Twenty minutes later)

XxX

"Giddy up!"

Skin met skin in an audible slap.

"Don't get slackin'!"

She could feel the string on her hand.

"Why don't cha put sum more horsepower in yer pace?"

She loved it.

"Hey, are ya even flooring it, Goldie locks?"

She happy slapped him again.

"Why? Do? I? Gotta? Be? The? One? To? Carry? Her!" Naruto managed to growl out his question despite the fact that every word which flew from his lips earned him several happy slaps to his head from the cheery redhead riding on his back. It didn't hurt him but it left him seriously annoyed, "This isn't fair, damn it!"

Six more thunderous strikes of the palm were drummed off of Naruto's head.

"Hey! I said five words that time!"

"Nuh-uh, Goldie locks! Ain't no loophole fer ya by stickin' two words together!"

"Aw, screw you, smartass!"

"Oh quit your belly-aching. You were the one who injured her, so you can be the one to carry her to the school's infirmary, idiot!" Akane found it increasingly difficult to be miffed with her friend since she enjoyed seeing Ranma happy slap Naruto.

"I told you she started it!" Naruto protested, earning himself six more happy slaps from the redhead who he was giving a piggyback ride to.

"Where have I ever heard that one before?" Ranma inquired with a wry grin on her face.

Akane couldn't stifle her giggles, "Oh lighten up, Naruto. Aren't you always the one who's telling me I need to loosen up, and have fun?" Akane shook her head, holding her handbag just below her wrist with her two hands, a smile on her face, "Honestly, that sounds pretty ironic. Wouldn't you agree, Ranma?"

"You betcha I do!" Ranma voiced her agreement cheerfully, "Goldie locks bet'ta start taking pages outta his own book."

"Hey, I'm not saying not to have fun," Naruto said with his eyes squinted in annoyance, with his head getting drummed eight more times again, per word, "Just don't poke at me to do it." Nine more slaps ricocheted off of his head, "To hell with the technicalities already!"

Ranma blew Naruto a raspberry, happy-slapping him another six times.

"Oi, you, don't make that face." Akane chirped commandingly. Looking ahead, she realized they had more or less reached their destination, "We're here anyway."

"Great. Now I get the chance to endure the snore fest coming up, because that's just what I've wanted to do ever since waking up, whoopee doo," Naruto groused sarcastically, though a smirk crossed his face at the feel of a familiar 'chakra-signature.' 'Well, looks like I got a head to smash through the wall. That'll be fun.'

Naruto's vision was blacked out by the hands of Ranma as she elevated herself higher on the blonde's back to get a better look at the school, "So that's Furinkan High School," She observed.

Furinkan High School was a plain four story high building that had a clock-face positioned in the centre. Like many other standard schools, it had a metal sliding gate in between the concrete walls some ways away from the actual school building itself, seeing as the entire yard was very wide.

"Meh. It don't look all that to me. Betcha loads a' chumps who couldn't throw a proper punch ta win 'em a meal go there," Ranma said, hearing a derisive snort come from Naruto, who noted Ranma had an ego the size of Las Vegas.

"You wouldn't be too far off there," Akane had a similar ego to Ranma's, the girl sounding rather annoyed thinking of the second rate fighters Furinkan High School had to offer, excluding her and Naruto in this category, "The icky boys here all have as much skill as I do in my little pinkie... combined. Upperclassman Kuno's the only one to watch out for."

Ranma nodded her head, absorbing all the information like a sponge would gobble up water, "Wait. Hold up, so yer a martial artist too, Akane?"

"Yep!" Akane was looking too proud of that fact. "I'm still nowhere near Naruto's level, but I did singlehandedly beat down a bunch of boys every day… well, that was until Naruto came along and put a stop to them attacking me on a daily basis," One might have thought Akane would've been relieved that the group of perverted boys was no longer targeting her for her affections if it wasn't for the bitter expression she sent Naruto's way, "I could've dealt with them on my own Naruto!"

"We've been over this a thousand times, Akane-chan," Naruto said with a sigh, not feeling Ranma happy slap him this time because she was using her hands to cover his eyes, "It was better that I dealt with 'em! I nipped the whole 'beat Akane-chan-and-win-her-as-a-girlfriend thing in the bud. Sheesh. I thought I was doing you a favour."

Akane obviously didn't appreciate the effort because she huffed and looked away from Naruto.

"Oh well. Looks like it's show time." Naruto just knew a nosey Ranma had curious eyes honed on his golden hair, so he lazily lifted up his finger and pointed it at the main entrance gate, "Loony-boy's front and centre for an ass-whooping."

"Loony boy," Ranma blinked her eyes, looking to where Naruto was pointing. Not seeing anything at first Ranma was prepared to write Naruto off as crazy. That was until a guy calmly ambled out from the side of the wall, surprising Ranma, 'Hm. That's one hella nose Goldie Locks has got if he sniffed him out from behind the wall.'

From the way he was geared up, Ranma could tell he was a samurai of sorts, at least a mock one; a light blue kimono held closed by a white sash, a dark blue hakama, and his feet were clad in white socks and wooden sandals. Though perhaps the most eye-catching samurai-gear the young man had on his person was his weapon of choice. There wasn't a single metal sword on him as one would expect a samurai to wield, but instead he wielded a plain wooden sword.

He held himself with an air of both benevolence and condescension about him.

"Ah. For if it isn't thou most worthy adversary, the foul sorcerer Uzumaki. For what treacherous means as thee used to bewitch thou beauteous Akane Tendo. Thou, myself, can only hope the damage done to the beauteous Akane Tendo is not irrevocable. Thou must hurry, the beauteous Akane Tendo is in need of a saviour." The mock-samurai said.

An odd expression appeared on Ranma's features, "S'up with samurai boy over there. He sounds like he's trying ta pull off a shakespear."

"Yeah. That's Kuno for you in a nutshell," Naruto mumbled, "The guy's a total idiot. He's convinced himself I've tricked Akane-chan into being one of my precious people and that he must save her from my 'evil ways'. Ugh. I don't get a moment's rest unless I put him to rest for the entire day."

"Aw, I'm sorry ta hear yer on cleanup duty, Goldie locks," Ranma said mockingly, patting Naruto on the head, "Mebbies ya oughta consider giving this one ta me. I'll have loon-boy thrown ta the wayside without breaking a sweat. Heck. I won't even hafta bust out the big guns on his butt!"

"I can handle him myself, but thanks anyway."

"Naruto," Akane's stern voice halted Kuno and Naruto in their tracks, "I thought I told you not to fight upperclassman Kuno anymore. You're gonna end up maiming him one of these days, knucklehead."

Naruto shrugged, "My hands are kind of tied here, Akane-chan."

"Bu-."

"Fear not, beauteous Akane Tendo, for thou, myself, have been training. I shall give nothing less, but my complete all to see this barbaric swine put in his place and saved thee from his treacherous ways. This, I swear, for I am the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High: Tatewaki Kuno!" Kuno declared melodramatically.

A flash of blue lightning abruptly struck the sky, causing Ranma to flinch.

"This guy's nuts!" Ranma gaped, feeling a pair of strong hands encase her wrists, "Huh?"

"And that's why I need to beat him down." Naruto said.

"Are thee ready to face thy penance for thy bewitched ways, swine?" Kuno asked with a battle-ready gaze aimed in Naruto's direction. He straightened himself, legs spaced apart with his wooden sword held steadily in front of himself.

After a nod came from Naruto, Ranma found herself flying skywards, and all from a simple flick of the hands from the very person who was carrying her, "Kyaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Ranmaaaaaaa!" Akane screamed in fright, her eyes wide at her now soaring friend. She didn't even get the time to complain to Naruto about mistreating her friends, seeing as she was forced to brace herself or risk falling on her backside from an explosive shock-wave that blew rocks from the ground and into her face.

"Kyaaa." Regaining her composure, a eyed-wide expression appeared on Akane's face upon seeing Kuno's sword swing blocked by an otherwise immobile Naruto's arm, 'Fast.'

"Ha. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you really were training to beat me, huh," Naruto taunted with a gleeful smirk on his whisker-marked face.

"Foul knave! The beauteous Akane Tendo is in need of saviour. I shall smite thee and see to it that she shall be rescued!" Kuno declared, bringing his sword away from Naruto's arm. "This next move shall see thee slayed where thee stand!" Bringing his left elbow up to his shoulder, Kuno straightened his sword on its side and bent his knees.

"Burūsandāatakku (Blue Thunder Attack)!" One thrust quickly became two, then three, then four, until Kuno was firing multiple air cannon-like jabs like a broken tennis ball machine launching tennis balls at will, only much faster, "Atatatatatatatatatata!"

Kuno's motions were little more than a blur to a gaping Akane, who watched Naruto casually dance to the sides with his head tilted upwards, not at all fazed by the destruction the shockwaves of Kuno was creating.

They were completely scarring the earth behind Naruto, also leaving fairly huge chunks in any surrounding buildings unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire of Kuno's fierce attack.

"Begone I say!" Kuno commanded, feeling exasperated upon seeing his attack rendered useless on Naruto, but not all deterred in the least. He was still forced to stop his relentless barrage on Naruto and the environment upon getting the wind knocked right out of his sails, forcing him to gasp audibly.

"Na. I'm good. Now, how about _you _make yourself gone if you don't like looking at this awesome mug!" Naruto grinned, planting his foot on Kuno's shin, then gluing his other one to his stomach. Using the unnecessary leverage to his advantage, Naruto leapfrogged into the air, plummeting his feet and his body-weight into Kuno's abdomen, not only smacking him to the ground but also making blood fly from his mouth.

The force of which Naruto supplied to his double leg stomp to Kuno's gut bounced the mock-samurai off of the ground, with Naruto still above him.

With a smirk on his features, Naruto stepped off of Kuno, rising him into the air with his left foot as if he were a soccer ball, before keeping Kuno suspended in the air with a right knee.

Seamlessly pivoting on his heels, the blond jinchuuriki left the ground with his right leg moving over his head and zoning in on Kuno, smashing the mock-samurai so tremendously hard that even if Kuno was shot out of a cannon, he still wouldn't have soared away from the duo with as much intensity as Naruto's overhead kick had given him.

Before Naruto could crash land on his back, he was able to perfectly flip round and land on his feet. Despite the glare which his friend had sent him for his brutal annihilation of Kuno, Naruto simply held out his arms with a grin on his face.

"Kyaaaaa." Ranma screamed, falling nimbly into Naruto's arms, "W-What?"

"And that's the end of that chapter."


	11. Naruto in Ranma Part 5

**Chapter Four **

**It Must Go on!**

"How long is it gonna take?" Whined Ranma, sitting in the reception office on one seat lined up next to four with Akane right by her side, "Does Mr Antsy Pants in there always needs ta have a twenty minute therapy chat with Goldie locks before he can run the ants outta his pants?"

A moody glower formed on Akane's face while her hands remained neatly folded on her lap. After she and Naruto had taken the bruised Ranma to the infirmary, the nurse had asked if Ranma was a transfer student-of-sorts seeing as she had never seen her before.

One would expect the redhead to simply say, "No way!" And carry on in her merry way, yet that didn't happen. Instead she fumbled for an answer, rapidly shaking her head from side to side as if it would jumbo a magical, convenient answer for her.

Whether the blond actually liked having her around for Akane's sake or he simply pitied her, Ranma would never know, being that he blurted out that she was only now transferring to this school starting from today in a nonchalant manner, which immediately earned him Akane's fury.

The girl was so kind Ranma couldn't help but cling onto her.

"Ugh. I'm not sure what that knucklehead and vice principal Harou need to discuss! The idiot never tells me!" Akane loured, "For all I know they could be plotting to rule the world!"

"Hm. Don't ya need ta have a brain fer that?" Ranma quipped with a smirk.

The redhead's self-satisfied smile was mirrored by Akane, "Woops, how could I forget?" She chirped, her sarcasm not lost on the pigtailed fighter, "I can't even imagine how that idiot would go about taking over the world," She sighed, more for show than anything else, "Good thing he has vice principal Harou to be the brains to his brawns."

"Heh. Then it's Pinkie and the Brain two-point-o," Ranma continued on the trail of mocking Naruto and the vice-principal with a snicker.

Akane was still on the same page as her, "I wonder how many times they'll fail."

"Hmmm. 'Bout as much as the wild coyote and Sylvester fail to snatch birdies," Ranma smirked, "Actually, I take that back. Put Coyote's and Sylvester's losses together, times the total number a' times they've fallen flat on their faces by, hmm, let's say a thousand, and then you'll hit the jackpot!" Ranma released a mock-awed noise, "Whoa, that's a whole lotta times those losers will crash 'n burn trying to overthrow the world. At this point I'm jus' gobsmacked that they ain't burned from the inside out!"

Akane giggled, playfully knocking her shoulder against Ranma's, allowing it to stick there so she could put her head on her newest girlfriend's shoulder. Yuki and Sayuri would love her, too, this Akane was positive of, "Oh Ranma, you're so funny," Akane complimented the smartass redhead.

"Gee. Thanks," Ranma returned, rather shyly, being that she wasn't at all used to interacting with her own age group. Friends-deprived as she was, the redhead valued any-and-all forms of companionship, even on a minuscule level.

Hmm. Perhaps Goldie locks had done her a favour by flinging her pops away to Kingdom Come – even if she couldn't for the life of her get on her hands on some hot water…

Akane eased off of the redhaired young woman's shoulder, allowing the hilarity to drain away out of her system to discuss a serious matter with Ranma, "You know, Ranma, as much as I'm happy that you want an education, _unlike some people _I know,-" Her voice took on a sharp edge of annoyance, though she quickly banished it to make way for a comforting tone, "-It isn't too late to turn around and leave. I wouldn't want you to think you're obligated to start here just because Knucklehead said you're a transfer student."

"Meh." Ranma shrugged, folding her arms behind her head, "It's not like I got anythin' better ta do."

"What about your daddy?" Akane probed, a concerned expression coming to her face, "Won't he be worried about you?"

Ranma blew off that by making a farting noise and sticking her tongue out, "Ha, heck no. If Pops, by chance, is out looking fer me it's probably only 'cause he wants ta shove an engagement in my face!" She pouted, crossing her arms underneath her gorgeous bosom, "Come ta think of it, I ain't all a' sure myself why Pops even had this engagement cooking up in the works, when he made it clear girls are weak, st-."

The volume of shattering concrete cut Ranma off, eliciting an instinctual stiff small movement out of her, and a wince from her throat. With extended eyes of sudden shock, the redhead slowly turned her head in the direction of the noise, losing the colour in her face at the sight of Akane's fist wedged cleanly into the wall.

She gulped. The murderous intent was filling the room like an unbreathable solidified substance. The redhead felt running out of the school building to get as far away from the erupting volcano that was Akane Tendo as possible would've been in her best interest, yet she was frozen by the malice radiating off of the fiery, passionate girl in shades!

"A-Akane!" Ranma yelped spinelessly.

"Oh that sexist pig!" The fierce young woman roared. If she had chakra, the room would've been reduced to wooden and concrete smithereens. She didn't have chakra, but her tremendous killing intent was still scaring the pants off of Ranma, "I don't care if your father is some hotshot martial artist, I'll beat the stuffing out of him if he even so much of thinks lesser of me just because I'm a girl!"

"Yer sure are reaching fer the stars," Ranma intoned, though her sarcasm went amiss by the passionate preaching young woman, 'What a load a' hot air she's got stuffed up in her noggin. How does Goldie locks even cope with her?' She _almost _felt sorry for the poor bastard - key word being _almost._

'Hehe. It's gonna be hella fun ta blow up Angry Pants here and watch her explode on Goldie locks,' Ranma thought deviously, smirking in a mischievous manner, 'Throw me into a wall, will he? Well let's jus' see how he likes having Akane on his butt like the she-hulk on a mission!'

Let it be known hell had no fury like a woman's scorn.

Ranma blinked owlishly from the sudden starry-eyed, determined smirk Akane sent her, "Ranma, I understand why you don't want to go back to that sexist pig who has the nerve to call himself your _daddy, ugh!" _The tainted words rolled off of her tongue like poisonous venom, "I think you're very strong to have tolerated your icky father without having resorted to the stuff a boy would've done. You're a good person, Ranma!" Akane complimented with a sweet smile.

It felt very backwards to Ranma in some ways, "Uh-huh. Thanks, I guess," At first she mumbled her appreciation with clear uncertainty in her voice, then afterwards her crossness showed, "What's that ta supposed ta mean anyway?!"

Akane blinked innocently, "What do you mean, Ranma?"

Ranma bristled, finding her own rage slowly, but surely bubbling to the surface, "Bout stooping ta the stuff a guy would do, _duh."_

Being that it was a (quote-on-quote) 'girl' who she was talking to, and not a guy, say Naruto, the redhead's rudeness was blatantly ignored by the martial artist-in-training. Instead, she gave off what she thought was a disarming laugh, "Oh, you know, boys!"

"O yes, of course. I know, 'cause I'm Mr flippin' know-it-all, huh? That's why I flippin' asked ya!" The rude-girl snapped sarcastically, her eyes lowering in boredom as if her amusement in a game was waning thin, "Why don't cha fill me in on the blanks anyway."

Akane viewed the raging inferno that was Ranma Saotome with a blank look of curiosity, not being able to comprehend why her friend was so mad. Sure she had spoken ill of a guy's mentality, but what normal traditional, moderately powered martial artist wouldn't after getting ganged up on by a group of boys who had deluded themselves that they could be her boyfriend if they had somehow subdued her?

The only boy who Akane had ever known to be a somewhat respectable and decent male human being had been her best friend, Naruto. Sure there was Doctor Tofu, but he was in love with her oneesama, Kasumi. She felt sorry for Doctor Tofu, because he could never talk to her properly, due to his shyness, and had to bare the heart-breaking torture of seeing the woman he 'loved' grow closer to Naruto.

Her heart went out for him. So, putting her own feelings on the shelf, Akane sought to help Doctor Tofu out by taking Naruto off Kasumi's hands, though nowadays she wondered was that such a good idea. Naruto wasn't a ladies-man by any means, but he was an idiot who didn't realize the effect his words had on people. The way he subtly complimented Akane on her femininity, something of which she was very insecure about, left butterflies in her stomach.

It wasn't even like he was trying to get with her either, being that he had straight-up told her this in a blunt manner after catching her fist when she had tried to lunge at him.

In Naruto's mind, he was just complimenting a friend.

Before she knew it Naruto had become one of her closet friends.

She would do anything for Naruto; just like she was sure the blond would do anything for her. He was different from the other boys.

'It must be because of the way her icky daddy raised her,' Akane rationalized, giving the pouting redhead a calculating gaze, 'He must have filled her head with the nasty lie about girls being weak and that she must act all boyish otherwise she'd be weak! Ugh, that pig! I hate him!' Akane felt a deep seed of hatred swell up in the pit of her stomach for Ranma's father, despite not knowing the man personally.

Ranma blinked when both of her hands were brought up in a soothing grip, glancing oddly at Akane's hands, "Oh Ranma, I'm so sorry, I had no idea that pig of father you have has influenced you so badly, going as far as to have you refer to yourself as a icky boy."

"I know what I said damn it!"

"Well don't worry!" Akane declared resolutely, earning herself a bizarre look from Ranma, "I'm going to help you, because that's what friends are for, right Ranma!" Akane chirped, gigging.

'Aw, man. Now she's a gal on a mission!' Ranma moaned mentally, putting a finger to her temple to contemplate to herself, 'Should I tell her my secret?' If she did that she probably wouldn't be able to wind her up by making Akane believe she and Naruto had a fling going on.

It was just so funny getting Naruto into trouble with Akane so sue Ranma!

When a squeaky sound echoed throughout the air, followed by a mass amount of smoke spewing forth into the reception, Ranma and Akane ended up with their fists attempting to plug up hard coughs escaping their throats.

"Ack! Pee you! What that's smell?" Ranma asked with a grimace, "It smells like someone laid an egg in there 'n it hatched to reveal it was a stink bomb! Either that or Dumbo 'n Doofus in there decided ta put their plan into action!"

The dull thumping sound getting closer and closer let both girls know someone was approaching. Looking to the direction of the open door leading to the principal's office, Ranma exhaled a sigh of relief upon seeing it was Naruto who was sauntering out of the room.

"Well it's 'bout flippin time too!" Ranma yelled brashly, "What? Did'ya and dumb-dumb finally settle on a plan ta overthrow the world?" She hopped to feet with a challenging smirk on her face, "Well you'll hafta get through me first pal. 'N I'mma tell ya this, I was only taking it easy on ya the first time. Bet'ta start pickin' 'cause you're taking an all-expensive paid trip back ta America!" After Ranma's quip ended, the redhead winced from the soreness of her back.

"Ranma, take it easy!" Akane recommended, standing up to support the redhead with her arms wrapped around her waist, "The nurse said you're only free to walk around if you've got supervision!"

"Aw, man, this sucks!" Ranma complained, glaring up at the blankly watching Naruto, "What?! If ya got sumthin' ta say, Mr Big Cheese, then come right out and say it!" Yet Naruto didn't say anything; not at all. His eyes just lowered in a half-lidded way, with a lopsided, silly grin crossing his features. If Ranma was being honest with herself, she would admit Naruto made her skin crawl.

"Hmm. Goldie locks," Ranma started, unsure how to put this, "Ya kind of giving me the creeps," Even Akane didn't know what to make of her friend's odd behaviour. She was, however, annoyed like no one's business when Naruto plucked out one of his hands, delicately running his finger-tips through Ranma's hair, "Hey! The heck are ya doin'?"

"Such pretty red hair," Naruto mumbled cheerily, showing the confused girls a toothy grin.

"Uh-uh. Did'ya inhale happy gas while ya were in there, Goldie locks, or do ya jus' gotta fetish fer red?" Ranma quipped questionably, only getting a goofy guffaw from the cheery-looking Naruto caressing her hair, "Oh-kay, I guess I can say that's a bit a' both." She concluded dryly, but immediately felt grossed out when a masculine whisker-tattooed cheek was pressed up against her sulky smooth cheek with a pair of strong arms embracing her, "Hey, would-cha get off of me, ya brain dead moron!" Ranma demanded, trying to wriggle her arms free.

"Ahhhh! Naruto, what are you doing?" Akane shouted, flying off into a rage, "Let go of her now, knucklehead!" With her killing intent once again engulfing the room, basically straggling the terrified redhead, Akane flew from her position to get behind the-high-on-life Naruto, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and desperately trying to pull him away from Ranma.

"Ugh! I said let go of her, idiot!" Akane commanded, her face red from the stress of trying to pry Naruto from Ranma, but it was as if the blond was a rock because no matter how much Akane pulled, Naruto would not budge. Not even a little. "What's wrong with you?"

Akane was knocked back from the Ashura-reincarnation pulling away from Ranma, who was still quivering from Akane's murderous intent. Having been thrown back so suddenly, and against her will no less, Akane was in no position to gain control over her own momentum, made all the more evident by her rapidly flailing arms and wobbling form.

"Kyaaa!"

The youngest Tendo sputtered, aimlessly trying not to fall over, until a tender grip on her wrist halted on her fall in its tracks. Like a magnetic pull, Akane was sucked into a hard muscled chest so fast she ended up putting up her hands as if it would cushion the impact.

"N-Naruto!" Akane said, shyly turning her head away from Naruto, clearly not used to the close proximity the two of them happened to be in, "What are you doing? Someone might see?" Someone other than Ranma, who seemed more content to slow her beating heart down rather than watch Naruto and Akane spoon each other.

Naruto's face morphed into a huge smile of goofiness, "You gotta be more careful, Akane-chan. You could've fallen and hurt yourself, you know. And I wouldn't want one of my precious people to get hurt. No siree, not on my watch!" Nodding sagely to himself, Naruto distanced himself from Akane to journey out of the reception office.

An almost eerily-like silence settled in the smoke-clouded room; the kind of quiet a crowd of unwilling spectators would get after inadvertently witnessing an honourable showdown of guns wielded by two determined gunmen/women. The silence was so deathly and prominent that even if a minuscule sized pin-nail dropped onto the wooden tiled flooring it would echo out to immense proportions.

Once Ranma felt the last remains of Akane's killing intent leave the room she put her observational skills to good use, scanning Akane after the youngest Tendo's close interaction with Naruto. She looked uncomfortable and remarkably flustered.

Ranma's teasing predator instincts were kicking in now.

"So, ya 'n Goldie locks seemed ta be getting _real _cosy there, eh Akane," A starry-shaped sparkle gleamed in the redhead's eye from watching Akane flinch, 'Gotcha. Now ta go in fer the kill,' Ranma snickered, sounding very much like a mischievous little rascal in the recess of her mind, while Akane fidgeted nervously, "Hey, don't mind me. It's all fine 'n dandy, I was jus' wondering if yer two needed me ta buy yer a room fer the night."

"Ranma!"

Ranma grinned in a manner which gave Akane the (terrified, to her) feeling that it would quickly become her shtick: mock innocence.

"I don't hear an _object."_

"But I don't even like Naruto in that way!"

"That's what they all say."

"It's true!"

Instead of simply rebutting Akane with an immature 'Nuh-uh', the cheeky redhead chose to rub in what she believed was a definite fact in Akane's face in a way that could be considered even more childishly simplistic than just a straight-up no to someone who had told her the opposite.

She brought it back old school with a teasing song that would make anyone her age palm one's own face just out of the sheer ludicrousness of seeing someone else their age with the mentality of a six year old.

"Akane and Goldie locks sitting in a tree – - first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Akane and Goldie locks with a baby carriage!"

Akane held a finger to her temple as if it would soothe the arching headache she could feel coming on.

"Not another Naruto."

"'N since yer ain't objected, I'll rest my case."

"Ugh."

Ranma grinned.

She was gonna love teasing Akane and Naruto.

XxX

(With Naruto)

"Aw, shit." Naruto groaned, slowly trudging through the hallways, and climbing up the stairs on his way to the top floor, where his class was, mostly so he could clear his clouded head. After the buzz of being high wore off, it left his head rocking as if he had fallen off of a mountain.

"Stupid, doc; he could've waited 'till I had left first before lighting up a smoke. He knows how sensitive I am to that stuff. I didn't even touch that stuff, but I 'till felt like nothing could bring me down to earth."

When he had reached the top floor, Naruto gave a careless shrug to no one in particular, "Oh well, at least that ramen fantasy I got outta it was worthwhile. Hehehe. I was swimming in barbeque pork ramen," Naruto giggled, his backpack hung by his mouth since that where his two hands were, "Oh man! If only I could take a bath in ramen! That would be awesome!"

An idea spontaneously flashed in the deep, empty abyss of his 'brain' like a bright light bulb, and all thanks to Akane-chan.

On days where the sole survivor of the Uzumaki clan had wanted to skip school and do an lie in – which was like every day – Akane would tell him if he studied hard enough in school to earn himself phenomenal grades the time he graduated, he could finally leave the crap-hole that was his apartment and get himself a real posh suite – the kind of places where a badass would live in.

The martial artist kept reminding the shinobi of his goal to leave his apartment and better himself in life with a simple, "If you want out of here, then come to school," being that she had told him a million times earlier during his first few weeks of school if he came and studied phenomenally, he could be rolling around in the big bucks in just a few years.

Lots of cash meant lots of worthwhile stuff Naruto could splurge on himself, like buying a ramen Jacuzzi or something.

"Yay!" Naruto yelled chirpily, "I'm gonna bust my ass off in school to earn me top marks in all classes, so I get me a ramen Jacuzzi!" Now this was a sight for sore eyes, _Naruto_, aka the number one delinquent in school, sprinting to class as if his life depended on it, "Ramen, ramen, ramen!" The Child of Prophecy sang.

The world must be coming to an end.

After Naruto basically teleported with his outrageous level of speed, the unusual hair-coloured Uzumaki shinobi skidded to a stop outside of a door marked 418, "Alright!" Grinning widely, Naruto gripped the doorknob, swinging open the sliding door to be met with the deadpan stare of a pink-suited man as if he had been waiting for Naruto to do that.

"Yay, the number one ninja Naruto Uzumaki is late for the show, but is always ready to go," Naruto boasted.

Most of the other students allowed silence to reign supreme in this instance to just gaze at the blonde haired shinobi bizarrely, with only two adolescents clearly not on the Naruto-is-crazy-bandwagon not doing such. One was waving cheerily at Naruto, and the other just politely gave Naruto a flick of his wrist in greeting.

"Hehe." Naruto chuckled heartily, straightening his school bag on his shoulder, and rubbing his nostrils with his index finger, before switching his attention from his acquaintances to his unenthused teacher, "What's up, teach? I'm here to rock!"

"Mr Uzumaki," The teacher groaned flatly, knowing he was too old for this, "You're late…" He seemed to drone off, a listless gaze in his eyes, "Your excuse."

"You know, the usual." And Mr Slowpoke did know too, since the vice principal Harou had informed him already that Naruto would most likely be a tad late showing up to his class due to their 'meetings,' "Stuff."

"Very well," His teacher accepted with a drawled out grunt. "Take your seat."

"You got it coach!" Naruto began contently cruising to his desk, though he stopped to look over his shoulder at his teacher, "Oh, and don't worry about me dropping off today, coach! I'm pumped to ace this class, believe it."

The teacher's snort was the very definition of, 'Yeah right.' "Yeah." He said lowly, allowing a few seconds to pass for a pause to linger in the air, "That'll be the day."

Naruto pouted grumpily, but otherwise made his way over to his desk positioned right next to the window, where his only male acquaintances happened to be seated close by to him. One was sat right next to his desk with the other one sitting in front of him.

"Naruto, my man!" Daisuke was the first one to greet the blond being that he wasn't the one who was seated right next to Naruto, and that Hiroshi and Naruto were directly seated behind him. Though, like Hiroshi, Daisuke wore the official Furinkan High School uniform for boys, a navy blue blazer jacket with gold buttons, matched by trousers, and posh black shoes on his feet.

"Hey, guys," Naruto said, holding out an extended arm with an open palm to receive a couple of sideways high fives from Daisuke, followed by Hiroshi seamlessly, "How's it going?" Naruto took his seat next Hiroshi's, carelessly allowing his backpack to drop to the ground.

Daisuke turned around on his chair, leaning his elbow on the back of it with his eyebrows wiggling up and down in a suggestive manner, "Be honest with us, Naruto, you know you can. We're pals," He grinned, "Right?"

Naruto laughed slightly, setting his elbow on his desk to rest his cheek on his palm, "You better believe we are!"

"in that case," Hiroshi said, his own wide grin mirroring Daisuke's at Naruto's admittance to them being friends who could spill their juicy secrets to each other, "You have to tell us!" He firmly stated, a pointed index finger extended and a ludicrous serious expression on his face.

"Eh?"

"You weren't really with the vice principal, were you, Naruto? You were with Akane, enit!" The excited Daisuke declared as if it were a fact of life.

"Eh?" The blond just glanced at the two expectant boys oddly, who both gaped and turned towards each other.

"He did!" Hiroshi gasped with a gawk.

"Eh?"

"You sly dog!" Daisuke complimented.

"Eh?"

"Dude, you're so in there!" Hiroshi chirped with a massive goofy grin.

"Okay."

"You must teach me oh wise one!"

"And me!"

'So that's what they wanted to know,' Naruto internally said, a dull expression on his whisker-marked features, 'Oh brother,' He just hung his head with his two acquaintances beaming brightly at him.

"Ahem." The teacher's clear of his throat got Daisuke and Hiroshi to stiffen their postures, and instinctually spin around to face his flat expression with their hands cupped together on their desks, and their backs straightened upward in a synchronized order, "Zip it."

"Yes-."

"-Sir!"

Daisuke started, Hiroshi finished.

They had clearly been hanging around each other for far too long.

Once the teacher had turned back around to face the chalkboard, Hiroshi took his chance to get Naruto's attention with a tap on his arm, a mission which he proceeded in, "Get me Akane's sister's number, I know you're close to Akane's family. So you can put in a good word for me. Can't you?" Hiroshi whispered with a victorious grin which just screamed, 'You can trust me!'

"And me."

Naruto shook his head, casually taking off his glasses and shifting his attention from the two women-seeking-young men to the window.

'Well, they're better than no company at all.'

And they were nice people.

They get an okay in Naruto's book.

Believe it.

XxX

(A Few Minutes Later)

XxX

"Mr Uzumaki."

"Eh?"

"You were dozing off."

"H-Huh? What? You sure about that coach?"

"That I am." The dubbed Coach said in the same listless tone as he had been using for as long as Naruto could remember, "To my knowledge, I recall a certain rowdy, loud-mouthed self-proclaimed 'ninja' bragging about passing my class with flying colours," He gave his class a low, deep belly chuckle, "How ironic. Wouldn't you…" He paused, purposely slurring his speech with a half smirk, "Believe it…"

A chorus of awed-filled gasps echoed out from the majority of the class, except from one gobsmacked shinobi.

O…o

"Wow. Mr Fujimura just baited Naruto!"

"Ha! My man Naruto'll kick his ass!"

"Girls will be all over him for that!"

"As if!"

"Yeah. I'm not interested in a criminal."

"Jerks!"

"Pervs!"

"Do you think Uzumaki'll really fight Fujimura-sensei, Sayuri-chan?"

"Hmm. Well considering the fact he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, I say that's a definite possibility."

"Hehe. Yeah, in some ways, I wonder why Akane-chan even stays with him."

"I know! She's so gorgeous. She could get any boy she so desires!"

"Yet she stays with a hooligan like him."

"Ooo. It's like a love story of a princess and a farmer!"

"So romantic!"

Both of Akane's girls – who could in some ways be considered the female equivalents of Naruto's Daisuke and Hiroshi – finished simultaneously, dreamy looks on their eyes.

Naruto snorted in bull-esque, not at all amused in the least at Akane's girlfriends' ridiculing of him or at Fujimura's little jibe at him using his own catchphrase, "Oh no you didn't just go there, coach!" Naruto roared, shooting up to his feet while rolling up one of his sleeves, "You want summa th-."

The slamming of the door cut Naruto off, "Don't even think about it, Naruto!" Akane's thunderous voice slicing through the tension depleted any fight Naruto had in him.

The martial artist carefully walked in to the classroom supporting a limping redhead, whom own shapely hips, and busty breasts got her ogled by a huge portion of the male populace of the class, and even a few females.

"Akane-chan!" Yuki and Sayuri greeted their girlfriend cheerily.

Akane returned their affection with a fond smile, though quickly discarded it to put back on a stern mask to calm Naruto, "Fujimura-sensei has enough on his plate without having to deal with you, knucklehead! So you better behave yourself, got that!" Sayuri and Yuki were simply left in awe at Akane's ability to ground Naruto.

"B-But, but, but, but, but, but, but, but," Naruto repeated aimlessly, but he knew he wasn't winning this one, so he dropped back down on his seat in a grumpy manner, arms crossed over his chest, "Okay, just don't have a cow!" He pouted, but despite his chatty mouth Akane still breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow, Akane-chan's amazing!" Sayuri complimented.

"She keeps him so well-grounded!" Yuki added.

With a dull expression on his face, Naruto felt a nudge on his right side, causing him to turn his head to see what Hiroshi wanted. Needlessly to say, he was left uninterested by the tears pouring Hiroshi's eyes, "Dude, you're so in there!" The typical everyday student gave the shinobi a thumbs-up.

The shinobi decided to humour him, "Guess so," Naruto mumbled with a shrug, leaving it at that.

Akane huffed, straightening her shoulders to respectfully give their homeroom teacher her full attention, voicing an apology on behalf of Naruto, "I'm sorry about knucklehead over there, Fujimura-sensei."

With the exception of Daisuke and Hiroshi, the male-populace snickered mockingly at the blonde's expertise, while the female-populace – aka the fan-girls - of the class all squealed cheerily at Akane.

Naruto was able to silence most of the males of the class with a deadly glare, though he couldn't put a stop to the girls awing over Akane. In fact his glare over darkened at the sight of a little redhead's taunting grin, 'Humph. It's not _that _funny, I don't know what she's smirking about!' He sulked moodily.

'She's got ya whipped real good, enit Goldie locks,' Ranma's thoughts were directly solely on Naruto, and though he could do many things, like stop a guy from dying with a simple touch, or even glide through the very clouds themselves, he could not read minds, yet didn't need to in this instance.

Ranma's teasing grin told him all he needed to know.

Mr Fujimura hummed, though either Akane's mind was playing tricks on her, or she could've almost sworn she saw Fujimura frowning. It was hard to tell being that his face was so often just a mask of static strictness, "Hm." He got Ranma's attention as he gave her a scrutinizing gaze, "Who might this be?" As Ranma rose her fist up to her chest to confidently introduce herself, she was halted from doing so by Akane drawing her attention towards her with a tap on her arm.

"What gives?" Ranma inquired.

"Let Fujimura-sensei finish first, Ranma?" Akane said, giving Ranma the benefit of the doubt since it was her first day here.

Ranma blinked, "Eh? He's not done yappin' his gums?" While most of the males in the classroom winced at the redhead's ghetto speak mechanisms, the girls just seemed to be grateful to have another tough girl around school.

Akane just nodded the answer to Ranma's question, prompting her to turn back around to face the flat stare of Fujimura.

"Yes…" He said in a dull fashion.

The hidden guilt swelled up inside of Ranma's gut upon being graced with the knowledge that she had interrupted a slow talking teacher, even only inadvertently.

Ranma rubbed the back of her head in a sheepish manner, "Sorry 'bout this," She attempted to rid herself of the guilt attacking the recess of her mind with an unsure apology.

"Hm." Fujimura let out flatly, the silence lingered for a couple of seconds, "Never-mind," Again, another pause, much to Ranma's blinking curiosity, "You are?" Ranma opened her mouth to speak but chose to simply wait to see if the slow-talking teacher had another thing to say, "And why are you two fifteen minutes late?"

'Sup with Slowpoke? Did he get outta the wrong side of the bed or sumthin?' Ranma mused, and since he hadn't spoken up again she figured it was her turn to speak, "Ranma Saotome, first day."

Akane dipped into a small bow, "I'm sorry for our tardiness, Fujimura-sensei, but Ranma needed to go see the nurse first because a certain _someone _threw her into a brick wall," The proverbial bright yellow light of accusation was settled over Naruto's head whom found himself on the receiving end of a lot of flat glares.

"Eh? Why's everyone looking at me?"

If possible the deadpanned stares of the students deepened.

"Aw, screw you guys! Why do I gotta be the scapegoat?!"

"Naruto!" Daisuke whined comically, tears running down his cheeks, "How could you?"

"And to think I thought you were so in there." Hiroshi mumbled his disappointment with a shake of his head.

Naruto could only cement his hand on his cheek with his elbow pressed on the desk, a scowl on his whisker-tattooed cheek, "You know, you guys are a couple of jerks."

"I see." Fujimura said, closing his eyes, choosing to ignore the boys, "Will you be fit enough for the remainder of the lesson?"

"Course!" Ranma assured haughtily, "A little shove into a pile a' bricks ain't gonna be 'nuff ta keep me down ya' know," She winced silently from a rush of pain coursing through her body, but still managed a strained, confident smirk, "Yep, just say the word ol' Slowpoke 'n I'm good ta go."

Fujimura let out a low growl, "Smartass."

"She's so brave!" Daisuke gushed.

"I wonder if I can get in there," Hiroshi contemplated, fishing his cell phone out in the blink of an eye.

"Get in line, buddy, because I'm getting-."

"-Her number first!"

"Damn it! Stop stealing my lines, I'm getting her number!"

"No, I am!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

Akane silenced all the perverted boys with a menacing glare, causing them to whimper audibly, while Ranma just chuckled tauntingly.

Ranma didn't particularly like being a girl, but it turned out she _loved _taunting boys, rising their hopes to new heights that losers like them could get a fine piece of ass like her, only to ruthlessly crush their hopes with an innocently teasing line such as, "Woops, did I forget ta tell ya, I ain't on the menu."

Revealing her birth gender to any boy thick enough to believe they had actually managed to convince her to let him take her out on a date was another fun thing she liked to do. Oh! That one gave her lots of kicks, watching a boy freak out with the scary realization that he had been hitting on the same sex as him left Ranma guffawing so much her insides would start to hurt.

"Very well," Fujimura murmured, inadvertently bringing a close to Ranma's underhanded thoughts, "You may take your seat," He grunted for a good few seconds, as if he was attempting to clear his throat, "Class won't be finished for another two hours," He explained for Ranma's sake.

"Thank you, Fujimura-sensei," Akane said appreciatively, dipping into another bow to which the teacher hummed off. Once she stood up straight she graced her newest friend with a sweet smile, "Come on, Ranma, I'll show you to your seat. You can sit next to me if you want."

Ranma gave a quick scan of the classroom, spotting two girls dressed similarly to Akane waving them over, 'Must be her buds,' She guessed, eyes still roaming around the room to come to a stop on a whisker-tattooed young man, seeing him idly looking at the window as if he and he alone was seeing something no one else could.

A flash of inspirational brilliance hit her.

"Well, actually," Ranma said, her mischievous snickers earned her a blinking look of confusion from Akane, "I'll park my butt in the space behind Goldie locks."

"What? Why?" Akane questioned, not quite being able to comprehend Ranma's decision, "Why would you want to sit near Knucklehead for, Ranma?" She raised her voice with a pout, eliciting gasps from most of the students barring Naruto and the boys, Daisuke and Hiroshi.

Naruto was clearly too busy with his head in the clouds to pay attention to what was going on, and his acquaintances were squealing cheerily that such a pretty girl was going to be sitting by them.

Ranma offered the perplexed Akane a shrug of indifference, "Whatever he's seeing out there I want in."

"But Ranma-."

"Please," Fujimura said, cutting off Akane, "May you two take your seats."

Ranma gave the sulking Akane a cheeky, bright smile, sweeping Akane's arms off of her person to straighten her backpack, "Well, ya heard the man," She jerked her thumb in the direction of her seat behind Naruto, "Ya go that way, and I go this-o-way."

"Oh, fine then!" Akane finally relented with a hard, frustrated sigh, but despite her annoyance at her friend's desire to sit elsewhere she was still consideration enough to offer her some advice with a batch of concern, "Just promise me you'll be careful getting over there. K."

Ranma nodded without hesitation, "Will do."

"Ohhhhh! She's coming over here!" Daisuke drooled, feeling time slow down witnessing Ranma limping over to them.

"I'm gonna be so in _there_!" Hiroshi grinned.

The two everyday students winced from the sharp, piercing glare Akane sent them, then cold sweat ran down their faces from the warning the aforementioned youngest Tendo gave them, "Don't even think about it!"

'I wonder how Sasuke's doing.' Naruto idly mused, a bored look on his face as his palm supported his chin.

After Sasuke had quickly tracked Naruto down when they first arrived here in this dimension, the Indra-reincarnation vowed he would find a way home so they could seal Kaguya, but that was a while ago, a good long while ago too.

"Hm." Naruto felt a pair of fingers flicking rudely off of his skull, his senses immediately telling him who was right by his side, so he averted his attention away from the window, and to a smiling redhead, "It's you," Naruto said with a neutral expression, "You okay, is something bothering you?"

"Just wanted ta let ya know it looks like we're gonna be neighbours, buddy," Ranma replied in kind, hiding her disappointment at having not annoyed Naruto with her flick off of his head.

Naruto gave Ranma a questioning stare but she only tossed her thumb behind herself in the direction of Hiroshi and Daisuke whose wide grins were all the confirmation Naruto needed.

"Well okay then," Naruto said, "Anything you need feel free to ask."

"O, you can count on it," Ranma said, her gleaming eyes gave Naruto the impression he didn't know what he had bargained for, but he would soon find out.

'Hmmmm. I don't like the look of that,' Naruto thought cautiously, defensively eyeing Ranma slide her backpack-straps out of her arms, before taking her place behind the blonde's own seat. With Ranma no longer in view, Naruto could clearly see Hiroshi giving him a thumbs-up with tears in his eyes.

"Dude, you really are in there!"

"When am I ever not in there to you?" Naruto said, more to himself than to Hiroshi, a deadpan look on his face. While Fujimura begin his lesson, Naruto rested both of his arms on his desk, using them as a makeshift pillow for his head, 'Well! I might as well get some shut eye until lunch time.'

"Okay, class. Kindly take out your textbooks and turn to page forty five." Fujimura commanded.

Excluding Naruto, while the majority of the class covered their desks with their school bags to bring out their textbooks, a hand went up into the air, "Yo, teach," Ranma called out in an unconcerned fashion.

"Yes, Miss Saotome." He growled inwardly to the reference of his professional, 'Another one.' A dark glare formed in his eyes, which were honing in on Naruto like an automatic missile launcher, 'One day,' His thoughts reflected the glooming fierce stare in his eyes, 'You'll get yours, Mr Uzumaki.'

Ranma cringed at the reminder of her current gender, but managed to suck it up; it would be all worth it in the end, "Ain't got a book." Ranma explained.

"Hmm." Fujimura droned, opening up a drawer, before fishing his hand in there, "You're in luck, I have a few in stock."

"Whoopee doo to me then," Ranma said sarcastically.

"Indeed," He stalled, looking at Naruto, "Mr Uzumaki!" He raised his voice to get Naruto's attention, though was rather disappointed when the boy merely rose lifted up his head slightly, a listless expression on his face.

"Eh?"

"Since you seem so bored, why don't you make yourself useful by bringing Miss Saotome her book?"

The shinobi straightened the upper part of his body completely, giving his arms a good stretch, while letting out a yawn, which came out prematurely due to the spike of killing intent the blonde's senses picked up radiating from the martial artist. He bashfully turned his head to the sight of a glaring Akane.

"Na-ru-to!" Akane gritted out, intensifying her glare with every profound of Naruto's name which slid begrudgingly from her lips.

"Whoa, Akane-chan's scary," Sayuri whispered sheepishly.

"I almost feel bad for Uzumaki," Yuki murmured, much in the same fashion as Sayuri.

"Oh boy, me thinks I'm in trouble," Naruto said, although he dreaded the inevitable scolded he would get from Akane, he still laughed humourlessly, "Hehe." He scooted out of his seat and looked over his shoulder, seeing Ranma grinning teasingly at him, "Leave it to me, Ranma! I'll have your book to ya in a jiff."

"Well ain't ya the gentleman," Ranma chirped sarcastically, leaning her elbows on her own desk, intertwining her fingers together to act as a makeshift resting place for her chin, "I betcha must get all the birds falling at yer feet, right maestro?"

Naruto cringed, "No," He nervously spared a glance at an ultra-fuming blue haired Tendo, "What makes you say that anyway?"

"Oh 'nuthin!" Ranma beamed, "I was jus' wondering what I should call ya, Johnny-on-the-spot or Casanova?"

Naruto shrugged to Ranma's supposed dilemma, "Johnny-on-the-spot sounds good." His neutral response earned him a surprised flinch, followed by odd blinking from the Saotome heir.

Ranma nodded casually, making a shooing motion with her fingers, "Then hop ta it." The blond shinobi saluted her, before marching off to fetch her new textbook, "Moron," She muttered, keeping it underneath her breath so only she would hear it.

Naruto completed his task to get Ranma's book to her in record time, unceremoniously dropping it on her desk, "One textbook hot on the rocks," The blond declared in a joking manner.

"Ta," Ranma mumbled her appreciation.

Naruto gave her a firm nod, and then retook his place by his own desk, shaking his arms as if loosening the tension within them. As he moved his arms to the surface of his desk, it clicked in his head that he was missing something, 'Uh-oh. I better get my own book out to make it look like I'm studying.'

With a sheepish giggle escaping his lips, Naruto lifted his two-strapped school bag from the floor, and to his lap, so he could unzip it, 'Now let's see here.' He fished his hand into his bag, 'No, no, ah! Bingo!' He pulled out a bright red book out of his bag before dropping it carelessly to the floor again.

'All right! It's a good thing I don't study, otherwise I wouldn't have been so sure I even had this thing on me or not!' Grinning sneakily to himself, Naruto opened up his textbook to a random page of a huge obese guy wearing old fashioned posh clothes, then placed his book on his desk to act as a cover for his resting head.

'Hehe. I'm so smart!' Naruto boasted with his head perched on his desk, snickering. He took in a few breaths, willing himself to relax, 'Now I can get back to counting ramen in my sleep, believe it!'

Before the darkness could fully carry him away to that awesome place known as the realm of sleep and relaxation, he felt a rough object bounce off of his spiky blond hair, causing him to mumble his lips, and scrunch his face.

Upon opening his eyes, Naruto saw a screwed-up piece of paper on his desk, "What's this?" He wondered, sitting up straight and gripping the balled-up paper in his hand. He unfolded it with a perplexed scratch to his hair, smoothing the paper out to make out the words on it.

*I know your secret*

With a deadpan look being written on his face, Naruto positioned his elbow on the back of the chair, and shifted his body, so he could interact with a smirking redhead face to face, "Really?"

"Mr Uzumaki." Fujimura said sternly, drawing Naruto's attention to the front of the class, "You know the rules, no talking in class," He jerked his arm in the direction of the classroom's door, "Buckets."

It left Naruto speedily poking his index fingers in the culprit's direction, who was just whistling innocently, "Eh? Wait! It's not my fault I swear it! I was fram-."

With a dumbfounded expression being painted all over his whisker-marked face, it fell on the blond-haired young man that he would be getting a free pass to skip class.

"Yeah, you're right. What was I thinking?" Naruto asked with a sly smile and a cheeky wink.

The blond picked up his sunglasses and left his now vacant seat in one smooth motion, "Buckets it is, then! Heh! That will show me real good, coach!" Marching contently towards the exit, humming a jaunty tune to himself, he completely disregarded the odd inquisitive looks of the other students and a grumping Akane.

XxX

(Tendo Dojo)

Soun Tendo, martial arts extraordinaire and master to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, was many things.

A coward – sure; after all why take the option to fight, only to damage yourself if there was another, more simple, far less painful option to take?

A sloth – well, why do something today that you can do tomorrow? It helped when your daughter was an extremely independent strong young woman due to the fact she had followed _your _training program.

Overly dramatic – perhaps, but what single father wouldn't be? Bottling your emotions up was quite foolish if Soun Tendo said so himself.

Too chirpy – He had to put on the happy face for his three lovely daughters now to give off the illusion everything was going to be okay despite the loss of their light.

The darkest, most depressive day of Soun's life was the death of his beloved wife. Oh, how could fate be so cruel, throwing him and his family such a tragedy at such a high point in their lives? Akane had just grasped walking so well to the point she'd run all over the place, buzzing around so jovially it warmed her family proud.

But then the dark time hit like an abrupt period. Mrs Tendo was rushed into hospital after collapsing spontaneously in the kitchen while tending to her housewife duties. The doctor deduced that she was terminally ill, and that even their best medical doctors would not save her in time.

Soun didn't care. He demanded they try everything within their power to save his precious wife, but it seemed even Soun's wife had accepted her inevitable fate.

It filled Soun with an overwhelming sense of sadness hearing confirmation from his wife's very own lips that her demise was approaching, yet he stubbornly denied it. He grabbed her hand, dramatically vowing her that she would live no matter the cost.

And thus was the founding of the guilt that pegged at Soun's soul when the doctors informed him the very next day his wife had given up the fight for survival, the illness had won.

The loss of his wife was so great it destroyed any inspiration Soun once held for the art. This wasn't to say he didn't hold love for martial arts, and his school in general anymore, he just couldn't bring himself to train or dedicate his all into finding all styles, be it pro wrestling or the ways of the ninja, Soun would pick up what he could from those styles to merge them with his own.

After all if he couldn't even accomplish his goal of safely curing the illness which took his dear wife then how could he even hope to take his school to new, unreached, glorious heights?

_He _couldn't fulfil his goal, but a younger, more invigorated heir could.

He needed Saotome's son to marry one of his lovely daughters, so he could carry on their legacy. Even before his wife died, Soun had been well aware of his age. He knew eventually as time goes on, he'd soon lose his power as old age claimed him.

Soun Tendo – current master of the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts – was many things, but a liar, he was _not_. He was positive Ranma was a boy, _she…he _had to be. Ranma just had to. Saotome wouldn't play a joke on him in a matter of such great importance as this!

No! Never! Soun would not believe it to be so!

Saotome knew as well as Soun did that their school was slowly dying out after they had *ahem* 'disposed' of the founder of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.

Though at a time they would've loved nothing more but to blossom the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts' reputation, they knew their limits, as _humans. _Humans grow old and frail, that was a curse of being human. The one positive about being human was that humans could reproduce, thus passing down their knowledge and skills to their progenies, so they could continue on their legacy.

It was decided even before Ranma or anyone of Soun's daughters came into fruition that Soun and Genma would marry their kids to one another so they could carry on their parents' legacy.

Akane was a great martial artist and all, but in this stay and age the males dominated in all categories. People would be more inclined to study elsewhere, under what they believed to be a more competent male teacher rather than risk studying under an inferior female instructor, in their biased opinions.

It was sad, but no matter how much Soun trained Akane he still needed a male heir, for only a male heir would truly take the Anything Goes style to new heights.

'Saotome, where on earth could you be old friend?' Soun contemplated, taking a drag of a lit up cigarette. He had only just woken up, finding himself covered in a blanket with a pillow resting underneath his head.

After waking up Soun retrieved his cigarettes from the hidden compartment in the living room and moved to position himself on the edge of the porch, sitting in seiza there with a cigarette held in between his fingers, finding the inhale of tobacco momentarily coursing through his system soothing.

It was exactly what Soun needed in a time as stressful like this, the time of deep contemplation. _Oh, the horrors! _But a last it must be done.

Oh how could God's almighty divine will be so ruthless to him? It made him want to cry, but no! He wouldn't shred a single tear, not when his precious daughters needed a strong father around the house.

Another drag was needed to settle his rampaging emotions threatening to spiral out of control. It was as if all of his current worries were being lifted off of his shoulders, but sadly, the moment of tranquillity was only temporarily.

"Did Saotome get… side-tracked along the way here?" Soun felt a deep, cold fear weighing the equivalent of ten hippopotamuses drop lifelessly inside of his empty, tunnel-like, stomach, with the sound echoing out for miles.

From what he could recall of last night's mini controversy, Kasumi and Naruto didn't run into a 'middle-aged' man, but a panda, as stated by Soun's lovely daughter, Kasumi.

"I say, wasn't there a panda on the back of the postcard Saotome sent me," Soun prodded. Admittedly, it was quite the ridiculous thought; his old friend – Saotome – as a _panda. _How would he accomplish such a feat of transforming himself into an animal?

"Haha," Soun chuckled chirpily, "What an absurd idea that is, Saotome as a panda!" That was about as believable as the evil master suddenly reappearing as a changed man. That was impossible. After all, one couldn't teach an old dog new tricks.

But Soun still couldn't shake the feeling he was missing something. It was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't quite get it. It must have had something to do with that letter, because after all, why would Saotome send a postcard with a specific picture of a panda on the back if he wasn't allied with the savage animals?

"Hmm. Perhaps I'll check that letter Saotome sent me one more time," Soun decided, placing his cigarette in his ashtray to pat himself down, trying to tell by touch alone what part of his gi he had placed the postcard inside of, "Now that's odd, I could've sworn I had it on me." Soun picked himself up off of the ground and made his way into the living room.

"Now where'd I put that blasted thing?" Soun enquired rhetorically, clear frustration lacing across his brow. He scattered from one place of the living room to the other, with his hands a blurring motion the whole time, sorting through their valuables in the hope he could find what he was looking for.

"No," Soun stressed, a hand grasping the side of his head, "Where could it be?" Realizing there was one place in the living room that he hadn't checked, Soun dropped to his knees, crawling over to the table to search underneath its confines using his hand.

"Ah, father. You're awake." Soun paused in his searching for Saotome's letter at the sound of Kasumi's relieved, cheery voice. Glancing up, Soun found his eldest daughter standing in the entrance of the living room with a basket full of clothes in it.

"Ah, Kasumi-dear," Soun said, rather startled by Kasumi's sudden appearance. He struggled to explain his actions, "I was just looki-." Though he realized in the long run the explanation didn't matter being that he could just ask the oldest Tendo sibling had she seen the letter Saotome sent him.

"Never mind, dear," Kasumi blinked curiously at her coughing father, "You wouldn't happen to have seen Saotome's letter, have you dear?" Soun gave his daughter a hopeful, chirpy wide grin.

A look of understanding drowned on Kasumi's face, "Oh, Mr Saotome's letter," The Tendo patriarch just managed to hold himself back from squealing happily upon seeing Kasumi's smile of tenderness, "I placed it in your studies."

"Oh thank goodness," Soun breathed a sigh of relief, "I'll go take a look at it now."

"How come father?" Kasumi enquired, a blink of innocence catching Soun's eyes.

Soun stepped beside his daughter, "Well, it's," He paused, finding it difficult to put into words to piece together his theory, "I have a hunch that nice fellow you and Uzumaki-kun met with Ranma-_kun_… yesterday may, in actuality, be Saotome himself," Soun explained, calm for the most part other than cringing slightly at adding an honorific more suited for males than females on the end of Ranma's name.

"You mean Mr Panda?" Kasumi queried.

"Yes, that fellow," Soun confirmed with a straight-face.

"Are you sure, father?" Kasumi enquired softly, not wanting to come off as rude to her father by bluntly revealing his theory sounded quite farfetched, "He was only a nice panda."

"-A panda that was with Ranma-ku… _Ranma _around the time you and Uzumaki-kun met hi-. _Her," _Soun pressed on, hastily correcting himself.

His near-slip-ups were not messed by his innocent daughter, who gained a small knowing smile on her face, "Father, I think," She paused to sugar-coat her statement to her father, "-You may still consider Ranma-chan as a boy," Soun's wince was all the confirmation she needed, "Why is that? Do you still want one of us to marry her?"

"Kasumi, why I never would've imagined such a day would come!" Soun exclaimed dramatically, though after a moment's thought, he nodded his head in understanding, crossing his arms over his chest, "Well, I suppose I'm partly at fault for not telling you of the legacy Saotome and myself had been building before any of you, my lovely daughters,-" He cooed with a chirpy smile, "-Were even born. But, regardless of the fact of whether you had knowledge prior to our decision to carry on our legacy through our children, it _must_ be passed down to our children. The Anything Goes School of Martial Arts is near extinction, dear. Saotome and I will do everything in our power to see to it that our school lives on for many happy and joyous years to come… even after our deaths."

"Oh father," Kasumi sighed lightly, fidgeting a little to avoid her tiring limps falling asleep.

"I hope you understand, dear," The blank, bland expression that quite obviously betrayed none of Soun's thoughts or emotions were more clear than a thousand words explaining precisely the same point.

He meant business.

"But father, I really don't want to marry a younger girl," Kasumi reluctantly confessed, her voice little louder than a murmur.

"Nonsense! If Saotome can hide as a panda, then I see no reason why the lad wouldn't dress up as a girl!" Soun reasoned happily, smiling victoriously. He didn't even need a reason for why Saotome and his 'son' would pose as an animal and a female. Just knowing they did was enough for him.

"I would much prefer to marry an older man," Kasumi mumbled her admittance.

"Then Nabiki will have to marry the lad!"

"Do you really think Nabiki-imouto will have any desire to settle down with one man, father?"

"Ah! Good point! Well that just leaves Akane-de-."

"Naruto-kun won't like that."

Soun cringed, slumping his shoulders, while glancing depressively at his daughter's bland expression, "Oh! How could fate be so cruel?" He moaned in exaggeration, sobbing.

"I'm sorry, father," Kasumi whispered in an apologetic fashion, wishing her hands were free so she could offer Soun a few comforting strokes on the back. She just continued to murmur soothing words to her sniffling father, "Things may be look bleak now, but I'm sure the future holds many happy moments for us all, so please don't be sad."

Soun rubbed his eyes, straightening himself, "You're right, dear. There's still always Nabiki-dear. Although she may not like the lad right now, but I'm confident she will if Ranma-kun proves he's a well-mannered lad with lots of,-" money, "A-Assets," He filled in the blanks sheepishly, "Yes. Why, she might even grow fond of the lad!" He ended with an optimistic chirp.

Kasumi could only sigh deferentially at her father, "Oh father."

Soun nodded his head firmly, "Now if you'll excuse me, dear, I must head to my studies to check the letter Saotome sent me. I'm sure he would've been here by now had you and Uzumaki-kun not met Ranma-kun yesterday."

"Naruto-kun wouldn't hurt Mr Saotome."

"Then why hasn't Saotome arrived here yet with Ranma-kun? What was the panda doing with Ranma-kun in the first place?" Soun attempted to reason. He didn't want to challenge his precious daughter, being that he could never find it in him to castigate anyone of his beautiful daughters, but he was desperate to prove a point.

Kasumi smiled, "Well they were fig-." Her smile fell off of her face, a reluctant look of sad acceptance taking its place.

"I hope I've made my point clear, dear," Soun said, his voice mild.

"But maybe Mr Panda and Ranma-chan were sparr-." Kasumi stopped her defence when a remembrance of Naruto protecting Ranma from Mr Panda's sneak attack flashed through her mind. Even she knew, one simply doesn't throw themselves in harm's way in a practise match.

"Yes, dear."

"It's nothing father," Kasumi conceded, forcing a smile on her face.

Soun nodded, "Splendid," He began dawdling away from his oldest daughter, "Then it's settled! I shall have Saotome and Ranma-kun here in a week… I hope. Fear not! This is the beginning of a happy future for Ranma-kun and Nabiki-dear, I can assure it!"

"Of course, father," Kasumi agreed dutifully, waiting until her father's footsteps were out of earshot before letting out a sigh, "Oh, I do hope father won't be _too _disappointed in me for debating with him in this matter," Kasumi pivoted on her heels, traipsing towards the kitchen, "I do hope father won't be too sad if Nabiki-imouto doesn't want to marry Ranma-chan."

She would cling onto the small hope that her father would forget all about chosen heirs and heiresses to live a happy life.

XxX

(Furinkan High School)

XxX

"Hmm-mmm, on bucket-duty, yes siree. And I'm gonna do my very damn best at it!"

Another one of the finer points of Furinkan High School, standing outside of the classroom holding two buckets filled with cold freezing water. Score!

The oddly hair coloured shinobi of the most traditional redhaired Uzumaki clan had to use every last ounce of willpower coursing through his veins to keep himself from doing a crazy, silly victory dance in the hallway.

Oh! Who was he kidding? He did dance and more, all to give Fujimura-sensei a reason to leave him outside, instead of recalling him into class to be apart of the snore fest. _Boring_!

Would he be getting a scolding from Akane-chan? Well, yeah! That's obvious, but is the eventual ear full from Akane worth it to miss one boring lesson?

Hell yeah!

You better believe it!

Not to say he didn't _try_ and pay attention in class, being that he told himself he would, it was just so _boring_. This school was almost exactly like the academy, with the difference being a big one, and one that Naruto didn't particularly like.

No training. At all.

Normal blows.

Learning to fight like a badass ninja in the academy had easily been the best part for Naruto in his tedious time in the academy. That was what Naruto dreamt about in his sleep back in his early childhood years; going to the academy to be taught to run off walls, learn cool jutsus, kickass fighting styles, and other cool stuff, yeah!

But then the handwritten stuff came up, ugh! Just thinking about studying was enough to sour Naruto's mood. It was so lame; right up there with _chakra control_, sitting perfectly still with a green leaf on his head. _That!_

Though, if he was being honest with himself, Naruto would admit the day when he and his fellow delinquents sprinted out on Iruka after the chunin-trainee had instructed them to keep leaves on their foreheads using their chakra as a way to help improve not only their control, but also their concentration.

'Yeah. We really slacked off back then,' Naruto thought with a sigh of fond reminiscence. He remembered the day, as if it was only yesterday, of him and Kiba reading manga in the training hall, with Choji stuffing his face with crisp, and Shikamaru… Heh. He was just chilling, and that was putting it mildly.

The guy was probably riding clouds in his sleep.

Those were the days.

Before nostalgia could truly submerge Naruto in its endless sea of memories, a rough cushy object bounced off of his whisker-decorated face, abruptly covering his sunglasses-clad eyes, and obscuring his view of the window displaying the wonderful outside world. With his face as blank as a cleaned up chalkboard, he picked up the sounds of snuffing followed by a thud.

"What's this?" Naruto wondered, finding his answer himself just by turning his head downward, "Hey, my schoolbag!" This, now this right here meant a good sign; the indication that class had ended. Booyah!

Naruto turned his head at the sound of an annoyed huff, grinning widely at Akane. Only now did he take notice to the students rapidly filling the hallway to head elsewhere, "Hey, Akane-chan!" He greeted perkily.

"Oh, now you want to talk!" Akane questioned with her fury increasing, making Sayuri and Yuki grin nervously behind her.

Naruto winced, silently wishing he could at least knock the taunting grin off of Ranma's face, "Well… you se-."

"Just save your excuses for the jury, bub-!"

"-'Cause the judge's already declared ya guilty!"

Akane rewarded the quick witted redhead with a prideful smirk, "What she said!"

Naruto held out his arms to the sides, disappointedly shaking his head from side to side as he basically folded in this round, "So, I guess it's lunch time, huh?"

Akane fumed, "I bet you would be happy about that huh!" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Can't lie there," And Naruto easily admitted such in a simple relaxed fashion. He turned his head to the left with a look of understanding being painted on his face, "So I'm guessing the guys went on without me, huh?" Ranma lifted a eyebrow, looking a cute kid with a face of curiosity.

How did Goldie locks know the guys from his loon squad had headed in the direction?

"Obviously!" Akane just groused, "Honestly, if you wasn't too busy zoning out you would've known they decided to play soccer in the playground! They were waving their hands in front of your face Knucklehead!"

Now that look of surprise which appeared on Naruto's face was worth more to Ranma than a trip back to China, "Woops," He knew goofed, 'Was I _that _out of it?' He shrugged, 'Oh well, it's not like I wanted to play soccer or anything. I would rather just chow down on some ramen now,' He chuckled.

"No matter, I'll catch up to 'em later," Naruto decided, bending to swoop his backpack before coolly positioning it on his shoulder, his typical easy-going foxy grin on his face, "I'm starved," Turning his back on the ladies, Naruto rose his hand up, "So if you don't mind I go-."

"Not so fast _you_!" Akane curtly demanded, washing Naruto's face clean of any anticipation or happiness, leaving an expression of clear lack of response.

"S'up?" Naruto asked.

Akane stiffly turned away from Naruto, tossing a thumb in a grinning redhead's direction, "You're taking Ranma with you?"

Ranma casually ambled forward, "Looks like ya'll have someone sitting at yer table Goldie locks," She quipped in a teasing fashion.

Naruto's head fell to the one side with a clueless look, "Eh?" Akane rolled her eyes, "Not that I'm not happy that you want to eat with me but… why?" Naruto enquired, arms now crossed over his chest and eyes squinted, searching for the right words to phase his explanation, "Yeah, let's go with that? Why?"

Ranma just offered him a shrug, "Akane said ya chow down on the rooftop, right?"

"Right."

"Seems like a swell spot ta stuff yer face in ta me, and yer my ride anyway, so yeah," Ranma laughed as if she knew herself she wouldn't buy this even on her worst day, though she looked at Naruto with a shining gleam in her eye, "'Sides, a little one on one sounds right 'bout up my alley, now. Whaddya say, _pal,_" Her lecherous tone may have not gotta her desired response from Naruto, it was still enough to get Akane to whirl on her with a disbelieving expression on her face.

Sayuri and Yuki's expression could basically be related to two audience members viewing Jerry Springer front row-and-centre.

Naruto, for the most part, let out a long drawled out hum, complete with his patented squinted eyes he did whatever he was in deep contemplation or just outright frustrated. He came up blank even with Akane's heated glare honed on him.

"Alrighty, then," Naruto said, pivoting on his heels so his back was facing Ranma, "Hop on the Naruto express."

"First class here I come," Ranma retorted with a smirk, leaving Akane sputtering aimlessly, while Yuki and Sayuri both let out anticipated noises which left Naruto perplexed, 'Just like hopping on a bike.' Ranma thought wearily to herself, positioning her hands on Naruto's shoulders. With a quick deep breath, Ranma hopped once, ignoring the surge of pain to instead clamp on her legs on Naruto's hips.

"You okay? Did you have any problems getting on?" Naruto questioned.

"Yuuup…" Ranma said in a high pitched voice, mustering up a pained grin and a shaky thumbs-up, "I hardly even broke a sweat." When Naruto nodded, Ranma dropped her smirk to glare grumpily at the top of her carrier's crown, 'Just ya wait, Goldie locks. Wait 'till I'm finished with ya. Ya'll be begging me ta cover my tracks! Hahahaha! There's just no stopping this crazy genius!'

"Cool," Naruto said with a grin, Akane settling for a moody scowl, "Now we can get going!" Excitement was surging all through Naruto who couldn't stop, but a chirpy humming tune on his starting few steps to the cafeteria, "I'm hungry, and only a fresh served happing batch of ramen can settle my hunger!" He drooled.

His declaration of ramen caught Akane's attention whom expression symbolized that something had clicked within the recess of her mind, "Oh, yeah! That reminds me!" With her anger pushed aside, Akane rose her arm up, "Hey, Naruto!" She called, dropping her arm to reach into her handbag.

Naruto stopped, half turning his body to get a look at Akane fishing through her handbag, "Yeah Akane?" He said inquisitively, "What is it?" He winced silently from a neatly wrapped small rectangle object shoved into his face, "Oh, it's that?" He laughed humourlessly, "Yay."

"I made you dinner!" Akane declared cheerfully, a sweet smile on her face.

Ranma covered her mouth with her two hands, trying to strife her snickers upon picking up on how bipolar Akane was, 'She's 'bout as two-sided as a coin.'

"Mmm, yeah," Naruto said, a nervous sweat building on his face, "I… err, hmm."

"Well!" Akane probed hastily, her smile still glued on her face.

"It's, uhm, not that I don't want to try your cooking, Akane-chan," To Ranma's curiosity, Naruto took two steps back, holding up his hands, still offering his confused a sheepish grin, "I-I… uhm… ya' know, just had a craving for ramen. Otherwise I would totally chow down on your cooking any day."

Naruto gave Akane what he hoped was a winning smile.

It didn't get bought. Buying his explanation was the furthest on Akane's mind. Instead, she lowered her head with an almost sad look on her face, "So that's it huh?" The blond winced sharply, folding up his lips, "You'd rather prefer to stuff your face with _your precious_ ramen than save yourself some money by eating the cooking I worked hard to make… just for you!" She got teary-eyed, eliciting sympathetic expressions to appear on the faces of Yuki and Sayuri's faces, whom both stepped up to flank her on either side to comfort her.

"It's alright Akane-chan. He doesn't know what he's missing."

"Yeah. Jerks like that never appreciate anything."

"N-No!" Naruto was quick to attempt to clear up any misunderstandings, "It's not like that… I swear!"

Akane gazed back up, her sadness left the stage and her fury came sliding back out on its knees in full effect, "What is it then?"

'Flipped!' Ranma smirked, her cheeks puffing up from the failing attempt to hold in her snickers.

"It's just…" Naruto weakly tried.

"It's just what!?" Akane bellowed. The stubborn girl shot out her arms in a forward motion with a stern look, "I worked hard to make this for you, knucklehead! The least you could do is try it!"

"Yeah! You should be grateful to have someone as kind and well talented as Akane-chan looking after you."

"Jerk."

Naruto held a palm to his forehead, wincing at the bento box practically shoved in his face while Akane expectantly waited for him to take it, her firm stance never yielding, "All right," The blond folded, grasping the box with both hands, before pulling it away from Akane, "I'll just stuff my face with this, then." Naruto relented, 'There's just no winning against Akane-chan.'

"You're damn right you will!" Akane stated as if it was as true as the sky being blue and the grass being green. While Naruto let out a sigh, Akane looked up at the redhead perched contently on his back, a smirk on her face, "And I'll be checking with Ranma to make sure you've eaten every last bite mister!" Her tone went sweet as she addressed Ranma, "I'm sure I can count on you for that, right Ranma?"

"Oh, do you even need ta ask?" Ranma said with her own smirk.

"Nope!" Akane chirped, "You hear that, Naruto? I've got my eyes on you!" She smirked in an exceedingly arrogant manner.

Naruto sighed, "Fine," He mumbled, offering up a painfully obvious sheepish laugh, "I… didn't even want ramen anyway. Yup. This is all I need…" He gave Akane what he hoped was a reassuring grin but apparently she saw right through it since she huffed, looking away from Naruto.

With a sigh, Naruto turned around, dawdling away from the girls, "Let's get going Ranma."

"Heh. I betta buckle up then!" Ranma gushed jokingly, "'Cause the first stop cafeteria!"

"Eh?"

"What? Did'ya think you were the only one who could eat a horse?" Oh that was cute, "Betta think again bud? I got 'nuff room in this guy a' mine ta pack away a mansion! Now I wonder what I should go fer that can satisfied me?" She made a show of placing her finger to her chin, humming in thought, "I know," A excessively wide wry grin developed on Ranma's face, "Yep. I know just the thing that'll do the trick."

The suggestive way Ranma was talking after Naruto with a dreaded feeling deep in his gut as a mystified expression on his face, "Hehe. You don't mean…" He swallowed hard, too not wanting to finish in case by some chance Ranma wasn't contemplating his all-time favourite meal.

"Hey, yer not as dumb as you look."

That confirmed it.

Now Ranma just had to play the waiting game with an expectant smirk on her face.

"In three, two, one…"

"Nooooooooooo!"

Ranma snickered.

"Okay! That's never gonna get old!"


	12. Naruto in Ranma Part 6

A small, barely noticeable, sigh of resentment escaped the money-loving young woman's lips. With the proverbial chip hanging over her shoulder, Nabiki coolly sauntered through the halls of Furinkan High with a wad of notes in hand now that recess was in play.

Of course Nabiki wouldn't be spending her own easy-earned money on food, what did people take her for? She had her cash-cow Kuno-baby to give her such petty things, though more recently the aspiring samurai had been waning on her nerves.

There wasn't much which could ruffle the ice-cold gold digger's feathers. She intended to take most things in stride, be it a failing grade or her father falling sick, none of that mattered to Nabiki Tendo.

There were only two things that annoyed the middle Tendo sibling.

A: When someone – presumably someone all about the muscle - went against her, like Naruto, for as smart as she was, she was little more than an ant to a warrior of Naruto's calibre. It didn't matter whether Naruto ranked below average on the school exam board, over ten points higher than Kuno, while she ranked dangerously close to the top, all that was thrown to the wayside when he could simply overpower her if she tried any funny business with him.

Nabiki cleverly tried to do Naruto a favour by giving him the rooftop as if she owned the school, and even got Kuno off of his back… temporally, but returning her 'kind gesture' with an I.O.U was the last thing Naruto had intended for her. Instead, Nabiki was shoved up against the wall with a pair of strong hands entrapping her throat.

Nabiki knew right there and then while Naruto's love for Akane gave her little sis a pass from his murderous intent, likewise his mutual respect for Kasumi gave her big sis the same privilege, someone like her had no such luck against the blond haired young man. Naruto didn't like her, and didn't feel inclined to not rise his fists against her, especially if getting physical could get her off of his back.

No matter which angle Nabiki looked at it she could not manipulate Naruto like the other fools around this school, he'd too much power, and that irked her to no end.

Point B was very simple yet so prominent; when anyone caused her income from her betting pools to dip. Nabiki despised losing money. She could honestly say she'd prefer to sell off a member of her own family if it meant keeping her money intact.

This was why she felt nothing but frustration for her cash-cow, Tatewaki Kuno at this very minute. Of course, as was par usual, she rounded in a few bets with the students of Furinkan High to see how long Kuno could last against Naruto, but most had already started to clock on that Kuno wouldn't get anywhere against Naruto, except a free trip to the nurse's office.

Heck if it wasn't for Akane pleading with Naruto to go easy on Kuno, Nabiki knew the mock-samurai would've already been put in an coma by the powerful shinobi. No matter how annoying Kuno or any other boy for that matter was, Akane could just not stand to see them _too _badly injured.

Nabiki deduced that was why many boys lusted her little sis, because her inner beauty _partially _matched her outer beauty.

Despite the somewhat 'advantage' Kuno may have had in his battles against Naruto, less students actually took part in Nabiki's hosted bet of the fight then they did last time, which all meant her finances was steadily, _declining_…

Nabiki took in a minuscule, disguised sigh through her nostrils to school her emotions, keeping her poker-face firmly in place over her features.

It wouldn't do any good to lose her cool in front of her pawns now, would it? She just needed to stay calm and think things through strategically…

"Nabiki-sama!"

Nabiki stopped her wonderings through the school at the call of her name. Coolly turning her head over her shoulder, Nabiki spotted two non-descript girls running up to her with clear urgency cross their brows. Despite them being her 'subordinates' Nabiki showed no concern for the two girls' exhausted states.

"Report." Instead, Nabiki went straight to business.

The girls immediately straightened from their bent over at the waist positions with their hands on their knees to slow down their rapidly beating heart rates, "T-There's a new transfer student!" The ponytailed, black haired girl said, still winded from the running she did to catch up to Nabiki.

So far, Nabiki's eyes held a mild interest and she gave the two a nod of her head, "And who might this student be? To be more specific, what gender is this mystery student? What age group is he or she in? Has he or she found a group of friends? Those sorts of things," Nabiki explained, a small, sly smile forming across her face, "Please, don't be shy now. Information is one of the key factors in rising up the financial ladder."

The girls glanced nervously at each other, feeling a little uncomfortable with their leader's predator tendencies.

"Well," The bespectacled twin braided, light brown haired girl said, "From what we could gather, the student appears to be a she."

"-And she's in your sister's class-."

"-And appears to have a mutual friendship with Akane-san-."

"-But she was last sighted with Uzumaki, madam."

Nabiki gobbled up all of the wonderful information with a smirk, "So," She practically marvelled what was to come, "Little sis appears to have competition for her man."

"You could look at it like that." The twin-braided girl reasoned.

Nabiki droned contemplatively, "Name."

"Ranma Saotome."

For a brief moment the girls were almost sure they saw a touch of surprise lift open Nabiki's eyes, but just like the Flash, it was gone, her half-lidded, predator look returning, "Ranma Saotome, you say," The girls blinked.

"Yes," The ponytailed underling confirmed, "Do you know of her already, Nabiki-sama?"

Nabiki graced her subordinate with a sarcastic smile, "Oh. I do fear that's going to cost you," She almost chuckled when the two flinched, before wincing in remembrance. Nabiki never gave information out unless it was for a high price. And when she in return received any info of value one should expect her to use it to bring in more money.

"Uhhh… never mind, Nabiki-sama," The twin-braided girl spoke for the ponytailed one.

Nabiki shrugged, offering her employees two words, before coolly ambling down the hall way, "Suit yourself."

The two fell in stride with their leader, "Nabiki-sama, if I may," The ponytailed girl winced from the expectant look Nabiki gave her from the corner of her eye, "I meant do you have plans for us to take in bets to see who Uzumaki will end up with: Miss Saotome or Miss Akane, madam."

Ah. There was something Nabiki couldn't charge them for receiving; their task. After all, who ever heard of a boss taking in payrolls from his own employees for them to do their _actual_ jobs? The thought was absurd when put like _that. Well played, _Nabiki couldn't help but silently applaud her flunkey's quick thinking.Still, there were other ways she could benefit of relaying their task to them.

Nabiki tapped the bridge of her nose, "Tut, tut. That's for me to know, and for you to find out," As if sensing her underlings' slow descendent into sadness, she threw them a bone, "At ease, girls. I think it's about time I decided to pay my adorable little sis a visit," Nabiki declared, her voice taking on a sardonic chirpy tone.

A stiff nod let her lackeys know to follow her lead, to which they did, both of them paying no mind whatsoever to the dark, amused smile which engraved itself on Nabiki's lips, complete with a shadow looming over her eyes. She truly looked like someone whose only pleasure was the misery of others.

'Now to get the show on the road, the seed of doubt must be planted in little sis. _How challenging._'

_Not._

This was going to be a field day.

**Chapter Five**

**Coming Back to Bite You in the Ass**

"Mmmm. Now _this _hits the ol' hunger spots!"

Naruto glared at the play-acting redhead from where he was perched on top of the elevated door leading to the rooftop, the hot heat from the radiating sun only proceeding to further escalate his temper.

Damn it. He wished he would've dropped Ranma off somewhere else the moment he took her to the cafeteria to pick up her ramen. Of course the two were graced with numerous whispers and gossips coming from the other students seeing Naruto carrying the new girl – piggyback style – on his back, not that the two really cared about that.

A quick glare from Naruto, Furinkan High's top warrior, silenced them all.

"Okay, now you're just milking it," Naruto said, hardening his glare at the smiling redhead.

Still with chopsticks in her mouth, the redhead particularly relished the taste of noodles mixed with pork, onions, and lettuce with a purposefully drawled out pleasurable hum, "What do you mean Goldie locks?" She asked in feigned ignorance, dipping her chopsticks into her big ramen-filled plastic cup to _slowly _stir the broth, "I thought I was just sayin how tasty this ramen is," She wrapped the noodles around her chopsticks, making sure to lift an extra big piece of pork on it before bringing the food towards her mouth with an, "Aaaaah."

To the blonde's ever loving increasing frustration, he had to watch the cheeky rude young woman excessively sickle on the sweet taste of broth-induced noodles and pork. The martial artist greedily delayed the swallowing to unnecessary relish the taste the chewing brought to her taste-buds to really drive home the point to Naruto: I'm eating your favourite meal. Ha-ha!

"_That!_"Naruto roared furiously, pointing an index finger at the now swallowing redhead, "You're just pretending to like ramen so much to rub the fact that I haven't got any ramen in my face! Aren't you? I'm on to you," The whisker-faced shinobi declared confidently, though moaned silently from a content burp which echoed through the air from Ranma's mouth, 'Ohhhh. What I wouldn't do for a little taste of ramen.'

Ranma skilfully twirled the chopsticks, "O, now why would I do that, Goldie locks? It's not like ya didn't trip me into a wall or 'nuthin."

Naruto gave the redhead a dry squinted eyed stare, "Trip, huh?" He pried his eyes open a bit to catch the angry, fierce look the haughty martial artist sent him, "Don't you mean how I threw your ass to the curb?" He probed, giving Ranma a silly, wide grin.

"Aw, get over it. It was 'nuthin but a fluke."

With the opportunity presented, Naruto was determined to turn the tide in Ranma's corner, "And what about yesterday?" His smirk never left his whisker-marked face, "You know, when I flicked you down with my two fingers alone?" He cupped his ear with his hand and turned it in Ranma's direction as if offering her a microphone, "Yeah, I guess you're right. That was just a _one-off _too, huh?"

"Can it!" Ranma warned.

Naruto retracted his head, crossing his arms over his chest with a victorious smile on his face, "Ha! Looks like I won this round, hey Ranma?"

"Ya ain't won nuthin' yet!" Ranma was still very much clinging onto the small rope of hope that she could emerge victorious from this war like a rapid dog, "Just wait 'till I get finished with ya, Goldie locks," she was smirking in full now, "Case ya didn't realize, those first two _practice _rounds we had were '_nuthin _but a warm up, fer us ta get ready fer the real fight. Come game time you're going down. Hehe."

Naruto could only offer the egoistical martial artist a shake of his head, "Okay, guess I can't argue with you there," He seemingly agreed, allowing time to age the self-satisfied grin on Ranma's face, "I just wonder how much that stick up your ass cost."

And just like that the smirk on Ranma's face evaporated, to be replaced by a defensive frown.

"More than yer pad!"

"At least I've got one."

Ranma flinched, more at the implications of Naruto's retort, than the actual comeback itself, her eyes blinking dumbly at the grumpy-looking young man. The shinobi merely jerked his head to his right, prompting Ranma to look to her left, but all she found was her stuffed up backpack.

"Could just be me, but it either looks like you raided the clothes store or you packed to take a trip around the world," Naruto said, whiling his head back to Ranma to level her with a half-lidded glance, "What's it gonna be?"

Ranma pouted, crossing her arms with a dismissive, snotty noise escaping her lips, "Aw, mind yer own beeswax!" She grumbled, "I'm A-Okay without you sticking your nose into things your Gaijin-butt ain't even a part of, so mmm!" She childishly stuck her tongue out at Naruto.

"Is that between begging for money and living in trashcans?" Naruto enquired. Surprisingly, from the heated, electrifying glare Ranma sent him, she missed the earnest in Naruto's voice and eyes. Instead, the redhaired Uzumaki-looking young woman unfolded her arms, picking up her plastic-cup of ramen and harshly beginning to dig in once again.

Naruto sighed, taking his own chopsticks from where he had left them; right on top of Akane's cooking, 'Oh boy, oh boy,' His voice sarcastically rang out in the recess of his mind upon looking down at the dish Akane had prepared him; shrivelled up, dry pawns, next to a mini mountain of messy rice, lettuce, chunks of fish chopped up abysmally, and he didn't even want to know what those dark green dried up mini balls were.

The blond lifted up his chopsticks in between his fingers, 'Well,' Naruto mused, scooping a piece of rice and a pawn in his chopsticks, 'It looks tasty enough, I gotta give her credit for that,' He brought the food close up to give it a full squinted eyed concentrated stare, 'Meh. Don't knock it 'till you try it I guess,' The chopsticks drove into the dark entrance that was Naruto's mouth before the shinobi began to take a few extramental bites.

"Hm?" With delicious, tasty noodles hanging from her mouth, Ranma had to quickly slurp them up, or risk spitting them out from the tatters coming from her throat upon seeing Naruto cringe. She had to block her mouth with both her hands in order to have a decent shot of silencing her chuckles when Naruto's face began to turn a sickly green.

"Looks like someone shoulda got a doc's note this morning," Ranma said in a witty manner, sending the shinobi a mocking grin.

Naruto couldn't even be bothered to return the annoyingly taunting smirk a glare, since he was busy trying not to throw up, "Akane-chan's great at a lot of things, but cooking…" He clamped his hand over his mouth, forcefully re-swallowing the food wanting to come back up, "Cooking isn't one of 'em."

"Aw, you poor thing," Ranma sarcastically comforted Naruto, reaching over to pat his head until he swatted her hand away, pouting at her, "Too bad, you know, 'cause if you had me as your chef I guarantee you'd come back running ta me with drool falling from your trap, begging yours truly fer seconds."

Naruto looked incredulous, "You can cook?"

Ranma nodded, looking proud, "I sorta had to, ya' know. It was either between me or my old man ta decide who cooks back when we were hitting the road. And Pop's cooking…" Ranma shuddered, "Let's just say I would rather take my chances stuffing my face with mud and worms than tryin' his cooking. No thanks."

The blond appeared mildly interested as he chewed on this information given to him by Ranma. With her presence still lingering around here in Japan despite her plans to head to China only yesterday, he had figured her to be highly dependent on her father, but then again maybe that was wrong of him to assume that of her without knowing her.

"So you spent most of your life hitting the open roads with your dad, then," Naruto assumed.

Ranma nodded, not sure how the conversation had turned civil, but was secretly glad to have a guy-to-guy talk with another guy, "Yup! And lemme say, if you think you've seen hard ass training then you ain't trained 'till you've undergone Pop's military training camp."

"Oh. I think I've endured my fair share of training." Naruto assured, taking another hard bite of the seafood made for him by Akane, scrunching up his face at the sickening taste of it hitting his throat.

Ranma smirked.

"Ya sure 'bout that Goldie locks?"

"Try me."

"Okay. Did any of your training include being tried ta the front of a moving train when you couldn't even keep up with a moving truck?"

Naruto dropped his chopsticks, widening his eyes while he began inadvertently choking on his food, much to Ranma's amusement, but instead of insisting the struggling blond, she pressed on.

"Or how 'bout dodging a bunch a' pissed off bees?"

Naruto was still busy trying to beat his stuck food down his throat and towards his digestive system by beating his fist against his chest to really reply to Ranma's question.

"And if that wasn't 'nuff ta make ya think twice 'bout Pop's training program, then how does getting dangled from a tree rolled up in… _fuzzy-butt_s' food fer a mob a' angry fur-balls ta try their luck at getting ta snack on ya fer grub!"

Naruto's face was practically purple from the lack of air, yet Ranma's smirk continued to grow.

"How's that? Does that hit any alarm bells?"

Naruto had gulped down his food hard, inhaling as much in relief as it was from shock, "No way, your old man really put you through all that!" Ranma gave him confirmation in the form of a nod, "Holy hell, and I thought my sensei wasn't training me enough! Compared to you, I easily got the better end of the stick."

Ranma looked like she was in her own little world before Naruto even finished his sentence, "Now I can't even go near… c-c-ca… fuzz-balls," She managed in a low, stuttering voice, with evident fear in her eyes.

Her voice was not only still heard by Naruto, but it also triggered a remembrance in the shinobi's head, "Wait, fuzz-butts? Don't you mean cats?" An idea popped into his head upon seeing Ranma cringe, "Oh," He smirked mischievously, "You're afraid of cats, huh?" He laughed, joyously clapping his hands together, "Oh this is rich, little Ranma's afraid of the little bastards."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

Ranma roared stubbornly, huffing with a sweaty face while Naruto levelled her with a suspicious gaze.

"So," Ranma feared the probing casual tone of Naruto, "Say, metaphorically speaking, If I," He confidently jerked a thumb at himself, then made a ram sign, "-were to transform myself into a little fuzz-butt _you _shouldn't be afraid," He smiled, half silly, half self-satisfied at Ranma's pouting determined expression, "Right?"

"Hell yeah! Ain't no fuzz butt in the world can scare Ra-. Wait. What 'bout a tranfor-?"

"**Henge no Jutsu (Transformation technique)**!"

"Henge no wha-?" Ranma started, being cut off from an eruption of smoke coming from Naruto, making her cough horribly, "Ack! What in the heck did that cooking do ta your stomach Goldie locks, 'cause all sorts a' wind's coming from your butt?"

"Meow."

Ranma fearfully shrank back as if her life depended on it at the characteristic content crying of a small feline animal, "C-C-C-C-C-C-C…" She stammered loudly, not realizing in her scramble to get away from the dispensing smoke containing the dreaded creature from her worse nightmares she had accidentally spilled her ramen; not that she cared for food anymore in the least.

Her only hope was for whatever was in the cloud of smoke _wouldn't _be a dog's worst enemy.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Ranma repeated aimlessly, trembling at the very core. Mentally, even if she wasn't a religious girl, she prayed to whatever god was up in the big white sky known as heaven that she wouldn't have to run away from a furry little four legged animal.

The cloud of smoke finally faded away.

The end result was, god blows.

"Meow," The 'cat' Goldie locks had majestically switched himself out for purred contently, cutely lifting up a paw to give a friendly wave to the frozen pigtailed martial artist.

To Ranma, that 'cat' might have well had been the devil itself charging up a continent-destroying energy beam for all the fear it gave her, "Kyaaaaa!" Pivoting on her heels, Ranma floored her speed to the max, all in the hopes of getting away from the cat that effortlessly kept pace with her all the way, "Get it away from me, get it away from me!" She cried.

The scene looked oddly amusing; a couple of blurs, red and grey, spinning around so fast they created a complete – full circle - whirlwind twister.

"Okay, okay, okay, Goldie locks!" Ranma screamed desperately, "I get it, I get it! You've made your point already, just make it go away! Pleaseeeee!" She stopped dead in her tracks when a light, soft, pillow-like object landed delicately on top of her head.

Ranma trembled, slowly turning her eyes upwards to be met with the mischievous ocean blue eyes of her tormentor.

"Meow."

A bloodcurdling scream of immense terror shattered the peace of chirping birds, startling them so much they flapping wings could be heard as they took to the sky, determined to get out of the danger zone, "Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The cat fell from its perch on Ranma's head, but as soon as its four legs touched the concrete floor, it immediately erupted in a burst of smoke, clearing up to reveal a chuckling Naruto.

"Hahahahahahaha!" The blond held his stomach with his arms, his guffawing threatened to knock him over, "You should see the look on your face," While Ranma stood with her head lowered, tears of laughter sprung to Naruto's eyes, "You looked like a little scaredy cat… no pun intended."

After lifting his sunglasses slightly to wipe his eyes, Naruto figured it was time to reap the awards of his prank on Ranma, unless, by some miracle, she had a retort for him, which he highly doubted she did.

"Come on," Naruto insisted cheerily, looking at the silent Ranma with his typical jovial attitude full on display, "You gotta admit it was a little funny, haha. You were hightailing it away as if a tiger was after you," His next set of laughter only lasted a few seconds when he quickly realized Ranma wasn't joining in with him.

In fact, she wasn't doing _anything_.

That was, alarming.

Maybe the redhead was just giving the blond the silent treatment.

Naruto shrugged, "I'm gonna finish off my meal, don't know about you thou-." He stopped himself when he spotted Ranma's ramen cup tilted over, and tucked on the side of his collar nervously, "Oh, that," It all made sense now. Naruto could understand anyone's ire if their ramen got spilled over.

Heck, someone who knocked someone else's ramen over was basically asking for a beating.

"My bad," Naruto said lamely, rubbing the side of his neck. He sighed once he still never got a response from the unresponsive Ranma, "Look, I'll make it up to you sometime okay. Not now, because I'm kinda broke. But someday I'll b-."

"Meow."

"Eh?" Naruto instantly whipped his head in Ranma's direction to give her a strange look, yet the redhead only raised her head, her eyes narrowed into small slits, imitating a cat's, her cheeks were a little puffed out with a small, perpetual cute grin on her face, and she lifted up her hand as if it was a paw to give Naruto a wave.

"Meow."

Kurama lifted open his massive red slitted eyes to watch this in Naruto's mind.

With one hand on his hip, the Super Saiyan-looking Uzumaki gave a scratch to his scalp, "Alright, I know that last one might have been a wee bit overboard, but there's no need to act like a cat, Ranma," Naruto stated, walking over to stand in front of the purring Ranma, "I mean it's not gonna work."

Cat-Ranma suddenly bent down on all fours, giving the blond a violent hiss.

"Hm. Okay, let's try a different approach," Naruto said, in an odd bland tone of voice. With that, Naruto brought his knuckles down hard on Ranma's head, getting her to let out a terrified 'meow' before shrinking away from Naruto, "What's gotten into you?"

Naruto took another couple of steps towards the strange redhaired girl, but all she did was lift up her backside while on all fours, as if she really was a cat, and hissed threateningly at him.

"Uh-uh," Naruto said, giving Ranma a bizarre look, "I think I broke her."

"**Aw. She's so cute.**" Despite Kurama's extremely rare show of pleasantry coming out, the other biju and Naruto only dryly nodded their heads in response, "**You should keep her, Naruto**."

"**Trust you to say that!**" Shukaku bitched.

Kurama formed a giant fist out of his paw, placing it against his cheek to give his brother a half amused glance, "**You don't say? I forgot rat-dogs had such a great **_**alliance **_**with an even greater animal,**" He sarcastically said, making Shukaku scowl, "**Well, isn't that just **_**fantastic.**_"

"**Shut up, and go back to your fur balls, fuzz-butt**!" Shukaku grumbled.

"**Oooo, what a comeback,**" Kurama sardonically applauded, "**I can only imagine how long it must have taken you to come up with that one. Yes, truly you're an**_** inspirational **_**to **_**under-rats **_**anywhere.**"

"**Ugh.**"

"**Aw, and now daddy-boy's throwing a tantrum**."

"**I hate you!**"

"**I love you too.**"

"**Ugh.**"

Kurama's snickering was the last he heard before he tuned out the mental connection linking the blond with all the Bijus in his mindscope to focus on bringing the angry seething cat-Ranma back to reality. 

"Now, Ranma," Naruto started, slowly treading towards the hissing young woman who backed away with each step he took, holding up his hands in a placating gesture, "There's no need to act like some fur-ball, so stop whatever defence mechanism you've got going on and we continue…" Not with eating, "-With our day."

With one last hiss, Ranma lunged at the guilty-looking blond haired young man with a textbook spring-boarded elevated leap of her limbs, taking a slash at his head, to which he majestically dodged by vanishing in one instance and reappearing in the next; only a few inches from his original spot.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Naruto raged, shaking his fist at the possessed redhead upon asking her his rhetorical question. Of course he knew what was wrong with her; she was bat-shit crazy, attacking him like that in her condition. Granted, he had put her in that condition, but oh well, she had it coming to her. Easy.

"Stop this, Ranma. You're going to hurt yourself," Naruto insisted in a pleading tone of voice, but Ranma only unintentionally swayed her backside at Naruto, triggering the perv in him as a drop of blood fell from his nose.

"Ah, baby. That's right. Work that thing," Naruto grinned, leering Ranma. He only snapped out his ogling of the crazy female when she leaped sky high into the air. By the looks of it Ranma was clearly trying to jump over the fence and head elsewhere, "Oh no, you don't!"

Luckily, Naruto was on hand to stop her; with a quick accelerated burst of speed, the blond disappeared from his place, materializing airborne in front of the recoiling Ranma. With a snap back fist delivered to Ranma's cheek, the blond hammered her into unconsciousness, sending her sleeping form launching towards rooftop-level.

The shinobi vanished from his position up in the air to the ground once again, holding out his arms for Ranma to fall into place, to which she did, sure enough.

Naruto hugged the unconscious beauty close to his body, closely examining the lovely mark on the cheek which he had smacked in with his fist to bring her cat rampage to a screeching halt. She would surely have a swollen cheek come tomorrow morning.

_Just beautiful, _it wasn't like he didn't enjoy getting nagged at by Akane-chan for trivial matters, such as getting himself to school, now she really does have something justifiable to bitch at him about.

Damn it all.

"I wonder what _that _was all about anyway," By that he meant Ranma's mind vacating the vicinity to be replaced by a cat's brain.

It reminded the whisker-faced shinobi of the three times he had lost control of Kurama's chakra and gone full on berserker; the first time being between a sparring match gone all sorts of wrong against Pervy Sage - the second time being when Orochimaru told him his brother Sasuke was his bitch - and the last time was when Pain put Hinata in a near death state after the girl had professed her 'love' for him.

This girl, Naruto couldn't stop the fond smile from spreading across his face at the similarity shared between the two, although her burst of immense power seemed to come more about of a defence mechanism of sorts, either than a living being comprised of pure energy.

If the latter was the case, then either he or Kurama would've sensed it immediately, easy.

"Well, whatever the case how your cat-thing came about, Ranma, one thing's for sure," Naruto said, slowly kneeling down to settle Ranma down, his eyes beginning to free roam over her gorgeous body, "Your dad's an asswipe for putting you through that kinda training…" His words trailed off, his eyes ogling Ranma's jugs.

"Wow," There wasn't much say in this instance, so he fell back to a simple compliment, "They look really nice."

A sudden, sneaky thought popped into his head, and with it on his mind, he gently lowered himself to the ground on his knees, resting Ranma's head on his lap. With a grin of mischievousness on his face, Naruto slowly descended his open palms towards Ranma's busty puppies. Since Ranma was asleep, she wouldn't mind if Naruto helped himself to a little treat.

If she did mind Naruto molesting her, she would need someone to inform her she was groped in the first place, and the last time Naruto checked, it was just her and him. Naruto's lips were obviously going to be zipped, so Ranma would be blissfully unaware that Naruto basically sexually assaulted her in the long haul.

What Ranma didn't know, wouldn't hurt her.

"Phew. These _also_ feel _nice."_

Yeah… this was a good idea.

XxX

(Elsewhere – Nerima-zoo – with Mr Panda)

XxX

Out of all the places Saotome – aka Mr Panda – could've been sentenced to, a zoo wasn't all that bad.

It was as if God from above had personally decided to reward him for all his hard work.

*About time to!*

The journey of enlightenment had been long and vicious, but little by little he watched his son grow from the baby-faced, pip tweak toddler he once was, into a man. Though there was still much work to be done on Ranma to really perfect his metamorphosis from a man with a few spoiled brat tendencies, to a true fearless, honourable _man-among-men_.

Saotome could not stress how disappointed he was in his son for refusing to come along peacefully to Tendo's to marry his daughter - or was that one of his daughters? Hmm. Saotome forgot. It had been a long time since Saotome had spoken to his old friend.

It was just one of the many sacrifices he'd had to take in order to dedicate his all to completing his son transformation into the _man-among-men_ he was destined to be – and is still destined to be just that...

…A Godly, honourable man, not only feared, but also envied by all other men; the most desirous man ever. A man other men want to be and the only men that women want to be with. Of course he would never cheat on his _carefully_ handpicked wife *insert first name here* Saotome.

Ahhh. Saotome had it all planned out.

*And I would've gotten away with it too if it wasn't for that meddling blond boy,* His swiftly held up sign read from his position comfortably perched on his side in his cage. Around the man-turned-panda was a ton of bamboo sticks.

A shiver of fear ran down Saotome's spine just thinking of the gaijin who had effortlessly blasted him down the road so tremendously hard, it left Saotome too injured to even move. He was easy picking for that group of maniacs to carry him away to this luxurious zoo.

"Gwah." He sighed, sounding more like a growl, *Though I suppose I can't really fault the boy,* He flipped his sign around before discarding it to pick up a bamboo stick. While he majestically materialized another sign out of thin air with his power of 'fuck off, logic', he chomped down on the bamboo stick, *Hohoho, I have all the food I could possibly want here.*

In all honest Saotome didn't expect he would enjoy being trapped within the boundaries of this cage so much, but lo-and-behold, this had been his paradise so far.

And to think it all started yesterday, when Saotome had woken up and shaken off his concussion to find a sea of bamboo sticks basically over-flooding his cage, and just at a time when he had been heavily contemplating – in his sleep – of his master plan to escape this cage and make his way to the Tendo Dojo.

One of the zoo-keepers saw this and approached Mr Panda with a sly smile. He told him this was all the gaffer's doing and that there would be plenty more where that came from if the meeting he was scheduled to have today with the gaffer went well.

*If I play my cards right I could be living like royalty in here!* He flipped around his sign with a gleeful expression on his face.

Why not? To Ranma's father, a talented, ass-kicking panda like him basically getting the chosen-one treatment made a lot of sense when one thought about it rationally.

This zoo really knew how to treat their animals, from hampering them, to getting them their favourite non-human-related course dishes, giving them massages to keep them loosened, the works…

This place was literally a Godsend paradise.

Saotome jolted up into a sitting position at the combined sounds of rattling metal, and creeks of rustled steeled bars.

Sure enough, someone was coming in flanked by two average, unremarkable looking security guards. His skin complexion was tanned, which oddly resembled the colour orange, though his skin-colour matched his darkish red hair, styled in a ponytail held together by a black-coloured bandana.

Both the manner of which he held himself and his choice of garments clearly indicated this guy thought of himself as the '_Big-cheese' _around this district; a medium grey blazer jacket over a dark pink dress shirt with the three buttons undone, medium grey pants, a pair of red shaded sunglasses covering his eyes completely, and a posh pair of brown shoes fitted on his feet.

"Mr Panda, is it?" The man asked, his voice a sulky smooth one oozing confidence. Taking the risk of leaving the guards' sides, even only slightly, the rich-looking guy leaned his head closer to Saotome, lifting up his sunglasses with his index finger to show Saotome a familiar pair of blue eyes.

His heart twisted at the thought of Ranma, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

*Please!* Saotome held up a sigh with a sheepish expression on his face. While he flipped his sigh around to reveal more words, he brought his free claw up to rub the back of his head, *Mr Panda was my father's name. Call me Genma.*

With their bottom lips sticking out, the guards nodded their heads, impressed by the panda's ability to name itself and crack jokes.

"Ah, I like that!" The man said, putting his sunglasses back down, "Genma-baby, you're gonna go far in this world."

Genma discarded his sign to bring out another one smoothly, *Thank you.* He turned his sign around, *Now what do I get? I'll have you know I was the best panda of the bunch.* With the bizarre expressions of those gathered honed on him, he threw away the used sign he had to bring out another one with a wise air about him.

*Just something to keep in mind.*

"Yes, I see." The man said, taking in the unnecessary info regardless, "With that out of the way we're gonna be in business!" By that he meant _he _was gonna be in the money.

*How so?*

The man grinned hugely, though there was a smugness about it which smelled off, "Of course, of course. You're gonna be one of my main stars, Genma-baby, it's only fitting you know your role. But first I think I'll start with introducing myself," Genma blinked while the guy coughed into his hand, a dramatic air about him, "The name's Rio, aka Rich Rick, Double R for short. And, as you should know already, I own this dump and a circus along with other establishments."

*Okay, Double R.* Genma flipped around his sigh with a strange look on his face. He threw that one away, and lifted up another sign, *Where do I fit in all this?" He flipped his sign around, *In your mad scheme, that is?*

"Ah. Straight to business, I like that. Alright. Here's the thing, you don't want to stay here, do you?"

*I don't?*

"Yeah. You're too high profile to be in a _slum _like this, you get me?"

*Yeah! I am!*

"How about I get you a gig that suits a panda of your talent?" Double R suggested, a smirk on his face.

*Sounds good!*

"Gooooood," Double R drawled out the word tastefully, as if savouring the word on the tip of his tongue, "Genma-baby, I guarantee you _won't_ regret this. I give you my word that you'll have your all needs attended to, everything you could possibly want will be at the tip of your fingers."

*More bamboo sticks!*

"Hehe. An request to-."

*And sake!"

Double R and the guards gave the demanding panda clear looks of befuddlement, "What could a panda possibly want with alcohol?" The guard on Ricky's left voiced their one and only unspoken question.

*Pandas like sake!*

The two guards looked confusedly at each other, then back at the panda who a stern expression laced across its face.

"Well, whatever. Easily done," Rich Rick assured, his words brightening the Panda's expression, "Anything else?"

*Oh! And I want more food, preferably some fried chicken and rice!*

The guards looked weirdly at the gleeful-looking demanding Panda, shared a glanced with each other to confirm their thoughts mirrored the other, and gazed back at Genma, "Pandas eat chicken?"

*Kentucky Fried Chicken is the nutriment of all thriving martial artists!* Genma's new sign read. The guards blinked bizarrely at his exaggerated, wise expression,


	13. Naruto in YuYu Hakusho

**A Soldier in the Wilderness**

**Chapter One**

**A Stress Relief**

**Prologue**

"Hello, what do we have here?"

A small toddler-esque man contemplated, his eyes eternally shut. To go with his shortness, his face still had baby fat and he had a pacifier in his mouth. It was almost hard to make him out over the adult-sized desk he sat behind on a man's wheelie chair.

Regardless of his appearance, the clothes he wore were more fitting on a noble than a tiny child, a purple top hat-like cap on his head, with the initials 'JR' stomped on the front, a purple robe, with a red sash tied around his wrist with a pair of brownish-gold pants, and posh black shoes on his feet.

"What is it boss?" A blue-skinned ogre meekly asked. His hair was almost a non-factor, darkish blonde hair on the back and down the sides, but bald on the top. He had a horn propped on his forehead, and his only piece of clothing was tattered pants more fit for a caveman.

"Someone's broken through the barrier separating the human world from the Elemental Nations," The toddler-boss reported, eyeing a fifty inch plasma screen-like monitor built into the wall just opposite from his desk.

The blue ogre cupped his chin, a pensive expression being written over his features, "Hmmmm? That would be…"

"I'm not surprised you don't know about it," He said, standing up on his chair with his arms folded behind his back as he gazed at a small blond haired child dashing about across the very town a wandering soul was set to be stationed in upon being revived, "Father had planned it to be kept under wraps."

"Wait! King Enma knew of this place lord Koenma sir," Ogre gaped. When he thought about the prospect of the ruler of spirit world knowing about such a place, he realized it wasn't at all far off the realm of possibilities, very likely if not a no-brainer. So he chuckled sheepishly, "Oh, well. I guess that makes sense since he's the king, sir."

Koenma nodded, "Yes, of course, but what I want to know is how has such a little guy managed to get here." Ogre tried to understand and failed how his prince could casually comment on the blond-boy's shortness when he himself would barely even come up to his knee.

So he took a chance to pinpoint the irony of Koenma's comment, "Uhm, lord Koenma, if I may. Aren't you even short-." But his attempt to rebuke Koenma fell flat on its face from the sharp look of annoyance the little prince sent him.

"What was that George?" Koenma enquired crossly.

"Oh nothing sir!" George winced, tears running down his eyes. He straightened his arms and turned away from the annoyed Koenma, choosing to instead watch the energetic boy sprint to who knows where, only the lord possibly knew, "Aw, he sure is an energetic little guy, isn't he, lord Koenma?" George cooed with a chirpy smile.

"He must be trying to get back to the Elemental Nations," Koenma rationalized, sitting back down on his grown-up chair, resting his arms on the sides, "It's his home after all. Well, one would think it is anyway, considering he popped right out of the barrier leading to that particular dimension."

"Say, why don't we help him out!" George suggested cheerily. He couldn't stand to see such a cute little boy running around like a lost puppy. He was just too adorable. George just wanted to hug him and claim him as his own little brother.

"That's," Koenma frowned, finding it hard to sum up into words that a small innocent child couldn't return to whence he came from, "-Improbable I'm afraid." George paused, his mind attempting to process Koenma's harsh, and merciless denial, in his own humble opinion. Not that he would ever say that to his boss, because George knew Koenma would kill him, it still couldn't stop him from being gobsmacked at hearing Koenma's supposed refusal to send a small boy back to his home.

"Whatttt?" George drawled out a wince, "But whyyyyyy boss? Now you're just being heartless," Tears poured down Ogre's face.

"Would you pipe down, you bumbling oaf!" Koenma shouted in a chiding manner, causing George to recoil. The prince took a few moments to regain his dignity, and composure, "It's not my decision whether to leave him here or not. The barrier blocking the path to the Elemental Nations is prohibitively off-bounds, and even if it wasn't, it's still not something one can just open so easily. It's one of the toughest barriers in existence, rivalling even the one used to seal off the demon world from the human world. Even the higher ranking demons on their best day wouldn't break through it."

George moaned with a defeated air around him and his shoulders slumped at the harsh and sad realization that such an adorable-looking boy wouldn't be getting home. He took a look at the screen and it seemed even the boy had accepted his fate since he was on his hands and knees, trying to strife his bawling.

George's heart sunk.

That poor, poor boy.

Even still, George was unsure about something. This whole thing just smelled fishy to the kind-hearted, and cheerful ogre, "But lord Koenma, how could such a little guy break through the barrier if apparently the demons can't?"

"Good question," Koenma said, "It does take an awful amount of power to accomplish such a feat and that little guy did it, even if it took all of his spirit energy just to tear a slight hole in the barrier," Predicting that George may ask if they could quickly get the boy back through the way he came in, Koenma was on hand to nip it in the bud, "And no, Ogre. He can't come the way he came. With how tiny an entrance he made for himself, the barrier will have little to no problem repairing itself in a matter of seconds."

George let out a sigh as he relented in the matter, yet still felt a pang of sadness and guilt in his heart gazing up at the monitor at the crying little boy, "But what should we do about him? Surely we can't just leave him to defend for himself, lord Koenma! He is only a kid after all, younger than that Yusuke-boy!" And far more pleasant that was for sure.

"Yes, I concur," George was filled with hope at Koenma's mumble, "For now, we'll wait and see what happens. That no-good Yusuke happens to be watching over the boy with Botan as we speak," He said, widening the length of the screen with a remote in his hand to allow George to see the green-clad youngster with the resident grim reaper, Botan.

"Who knows, perhaps Yusuke will find it in his heart to help the boy out. That rotten kid needs to do more good deeds to feed the spirit beast residing in his spirit egg positive energy. Right now it has so much negative energy it took practically throw up."

George nodded his head, absorbing all the info presented to him by his boss, before turning his head to sympathetically gaze at the boy, "I hope you're right sir."

Koenma nodded, reaching into his drawer to take out a device which resembled a plain-calculator. He pointed it towards the machine and pressed a few buttons to measure the boy's spirit energy-levels. A flash of numbers rolled quickly on the screen of the device before settling on a whooper.

'Hmm, his spirit-levels are quite frankly off of the charts. It's almost a no-wonder how he was able to squeeze through the barrier like a tiny fish escaping out of a fishing-net. He could prove to be of use, especially to Yusuke. If that lazy kid manages to pass his trial, he's certainly going to need the help in his endeavours and cases as a spirit detective.'

XxX

(Moments before - Elsewhere – Human World)

XxX

"How long are you going to keep watching him, Yusuke?"

Commented the blue haired grim reaper Botan from where she was perched on her brown wooden oar. Despite being the tour-guide for wandering spirits, Botan was not the usual stereotyped grim reaper. She was an attractive young lady with fair skin and her blue hair was kept up in a loose ponytail by a red hair-band. She wore a traditional pink kimono, and a pair of sandals on her feet.

"Till I've got my fill of funny," Mumbled the combed-back raven-haired spirit with his arms folded behind his head, carelessly floating in mid-air in a leg-crossed position. Yusuke Urameshi had tan-skinned, a pair of brown eyes, and he kept his hair styled back to give off the image of a bad-boy. He sported a green blazer jacket complete with a pair of green trousers, and black shoes on his feet.

A twinkle of amusement shined in Botan's eyes, "Mine, I never would've took you for one with a soft spot for kids," She teased, getting a glare from Yusuke for her troubles that only made her laugh in a care-free manner, "Oh, don't you try and hide it. Honestly, you play the tough-guy, but really you're a little puppy-dog inside." He surrendered his life for a kid after all.

…Even if the kid would've miraculously survived without Yusuke's intervention.

It was the thought that counts.

"He's entertainment," Yusuke said indifferently, returning his attention to the boy who had only recently stopped sprinting across the entire city like a mad monkey child. The mad acrobat shit he was pulling off gave Yusuke his frills for the day, "And watching him pulling off that ninja shit ain't costin' me a dime."

Botan giggled, "Nothing costs you anything."

"'Cause-?"

"You're jumping up daisies up here!" Botan supplied chirpily, "Just until you pass you're trial. You had better be on your best behaviour, young-man, that is, if you don't wanna be eaten by the mean old bogey man lying and waiting for a chance to eat ya in your spirit egg!" The ditzy grim reaper made a spooky childish noise to indicate her point.

Yusuke brought one of his arms up to his face, a golden egg in his hand, "Don't need to beat that over my head," He said noncommittally, "'Sides, the fun's almost over here anyway. The squirt's tuckered himself out."

"I'll say! He does like motoring around," Botan said, making cars noises with her lips, "But even motors need their rest." Yusuke hummed while Botan took in the kid's features, from his strikingly blonde yellow hair, to his cat-like whiskers, three each lined on his cheeks, to the tattered clothes he wore he was a cute-looking kid.

"Aww, and he's such a cute little kitty-cat as well!" Botan cooed, her features taking on the characteristics of a cat, before she eyed Yusuke in a teasing fashion, "Well at least we know for sure which family he doesn't come out of."

"Duh. You think his fashion-sense would be that outta whack if he were apart of my family tree?" Yusuke retorted, putting amusement in Botan's eyes.

"That's saying yours is better?" Botan asked.

"Of course!" Yusuke stated haughtily, "Better than that piece of shit that's for sure. Kid looks like he got his dreads outta a trash can or second hand store!" Yusuke said with a grimace, "Nuff said!"

Botan would've giggled at Yusuke's quick wittedness if she hadn't picked up on the subtle sounds of sobs coming (from) directly below them. Looking down she could see the small boy's shoulders trembling while he clenched his hands into his fists.

"Poor dear, he's crying," Botan said sympathetically.

"Hm," Yusuke looked down at the earth in a curious fashion, "Maybe he lost a brawl or sumthin'," Yusuke offered quietly, yet lamely, but still he glanced at the crying boy with hidden sadness in his eyes.

Botan shook her head at Yusuke's suggestion, "Honestly, Yusuke. Not everyone in the world is as drawn to trouble as you."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a walking trouble magnet. I get it," Yusuke quipped.

"I wanna go home."

Botan and Yusuke both blinked down at the mumbling boy, "Oh, he's home sick," Botan said, stating the obvious.

"I wanna go home," He repeated again, this time with much more vigour as he pounded the ground in frustration, "I wanna go home!" He smacked the unforgiving concrete ground with both fists this time.

"Then go to your pad, sheesh," Yusuke grumped, not seeing the problem, "The doofus is yapping on about going back to his yard, when I betcha any amount of loot he can just pick up himself, and take a five minute hike down the road."

"Yusuke!" Botan chided, her stern look giving away to gaze at the anguishing boy with a look of concern, "Why I'm sure there's a perfectly good logical explanation for why he can't go home. You shouldn't just jump the gun!"

Yusuke shot Botan a scowling pointed look, "Uh-Uh. Then ya tell me Miss-Know-It-All. Sup with tyke bawling his eyes out? Since, ya' know, it's so not like squirts to get lost or nothin'."

Botan wasn't expected this, as she sputtered aimlessly, rapidly shifting her head from side to side to give the patiently waiting Yusuke an answer, all the while the little boy's painful wails continued to get louder and louder.

"As I thought," Yusuke murmured, causing Botan to feel deflated, "I rest my case." He smirked, "Jeez. Here I thought you spirit-guys had info clocked up on all of us living dudes," He chuckled, "So much for efficiency if one little runt can slip under your radar, eh."

Botan shot Yusuke an annoyed glance, "For your information spirit world is a busy place. Why, it takes an awful amount of time to gather information on the humans of the living world. It's not as easy as counting sheep," She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say, princess," Yusuke said casually, earning himself a glare from Botan.

"I wanna go home!"

This time Yusuke was miffed by the thunderous bellow of the blond-haired boy, "Then go home you stupid runt-!" He almost yelped at the sight he saw, and sure enough he backed up with a bead of sweat sliding down his cheek. He had to check with Botan to make sure he wasn't seeing things, "H-Hey, Botan. You seeing this, or am I just goin' cuckoo-cuckoo in the brain?"

Botan felt her annoyance at the rude-boy give way for curiosity at how spooked he sounded. The slight shift in the weather began slowly blowing her ponytail back and forth, "Odd. They never said anything about wind on spirit world's forecast," When she glanced at the small boy, she gasped in awe with a hand covering her mouth at the materialized tornado-like blue shell encasing his entire body.

It radiated with immense power of a C-class level.

"Oh my," Botan said.

The kid, oblivious to Botan's and Yusuke's presence, picked himself up off of the ground, his intense blue aura picking up the wind around him, and aimed his head to the skies, "I wanna go home!" He roared commandingly, releasing an enormous amount of chakra so condense, powerful, and windy, Yusuke and Botan had to brace themselves or risk being blown away by the kid's sheer power alone!

"W-What is this?" Yusuke stuttered. This kid was on a next level.

"He's surging up an incredible amount of spirit energy!" Botan supplied helpfully, struggling to steady her oar with a strained expression on her face. The cutesy-wootsy grim reaper never in her wildest dreams had expected a cute little boy to be wielding such a comprehensive amount of power within him.

"Yeah! I can see that Miss Obvious," Yusuke griped, covering his face with his forearms, as the hurricane created by the boy's power attempted to obscure his vision, "How's he goin' that anyway? Last time I checked squirts didn't just roll down the streets of L.A packin' that kinda power in 'em. Fuck! I ain't been dead that long, have I?"

Botan kept quiet and carefully observed the powering up child with a keen-eye while she and Yusuke fought against the tornado he was inadvertently creating. Initially, she was surprised to see such a speedy boy leaping from rooftops to rooftops, and weaving in and out of traffic like a man on a mission.

She had a quick peek in her little blue book to see if spirit world had anything on the boy, but to her disappointment there wasn't a thing on him. Who he was, where he came from, or even his name, nothing was divulged on him.

It made her frown but she expected Prince Koenma to pick up on the kid and know something about him, even if it was just his name. So Botan joined in with Yusuke in watching the athletic-kid perform his crazy manoeuvres, often giggling at how agile he was, almost if he was a monkey's child. It was funny to see how tenacious he was about getting to wherever he was going, but the amusement pills ran its course the moment he stopped, the adrenaline having worn off with the cold, merciless realization that he was alone.

Her heart went out to him.

Finally, the hurricane ceased.

"Phew, that was a doozy," Botan said, sighing in relief.

"I'll say, that was some Dragon ball z-shit!" Yusuke said, looking down at the boy. His earlier doggedness was nowhere to be found. Instead he stood up straight, arms falling to his sides, while he gazed at the ground with a hollow feel about him, "Hm," Yusuke's eyes lowered, relating with the small boy. He himself had hidden his own emotions, giving everyone the impression he was a hard-ass that didn't need pity from anyone.

To Yusuke, emotions just made people look stupid.

Well, anyone that wasn't a small boy.

"Yusuke," Botan wondered, noticing Yusuke fly towards the boy. She followed him until he was right behind him.

"Hey, kid. It's oh-kay, you'll get home for sure." Yusuke assured, reaching out to touch the boy's shoulder, but once his fingertips so much as glazed the boy's shoulder, the blond flinched, 'Huh? Can he hear me?'

Yusuke got his answer when the boy spun on his heels, a frown decorating his features upon seeing a pretty blue haired lady floating on some weird stick and a green-clad guy also standing on air, "Who are you people?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest and squinting his eyes.

"My, you can see us!" Botan chirped.

"Well, yeah, of course. You're right in front of me after all," The blond reasoned, his frown deepening, "Why is that such a big deal anyway?"

"You really dunno?" Yusuke asked with a somewhat sceptical eyebrow raised.

"Know what?" He asked, clueless.

"Come on silly-head!" Botan urged cheerily, flying around the pouting blonde.

"Hey, that's not very nice!"

"Can't you tell there is a clear difference between us and the other humans around here?" Botan asked gleefully, confusing the boy with the way she identified the other folks inhabiting this place.

Wasn't she human too? Why would she refer to her own people as their own race? Maybe she wasn't human? But if she wasn't human then what the heck was she, some kind of weird flying alien? Ugh.

"Well, yeah, you're flying," He shrugged, a grin starting to spread across his face at the prospect of receiving a new jutsu.

"Bingo!" Botan chirped, parking her oar beside the floating Yusuke once again, "Well, it seems someone's quite the sharpened knife in the drawer."

"Hurrah!" He cheered, "What do I win? C'mon lady, you gotta tell me what jutsu you use to fly like that! Then I'll be able to fly, too, and I'll be like, 'I can fly!' Dattebayo!"

"Jutsu?" Yusuke asked with a scowl on his features, "What do you think this is anyway, ninja-land?" At this, the boy stopped dancing around to glance at Yusuke with a fearful, but curious expression on his whisker-marked face.

"Wait. It's not ninja-land?" He somewhat knew that when the people started watching him with bewildered expressions on their faces while he was running in between those moving speedy, rectangle shaped devices, or whatever they were called.

"No, this is Japan." Yusuke deadpanned.

"Japan? What's that?"

Yusuke's jaw dropped, "You kidding?"

"Hmmm. I don't think so," The boy said.

"What a fascinating young boy you are," Botan said, observing the boy as if he was some experiment. She processed his features, and his accent, "You look like you come from America, yet you speak fluent Japanese."

"Look lady, I don't know what this 'J-pan' or that other place is, just tell me how I get back to Konoha! I gotta get my friend back from that lousy snake bastard before it's too late!" The boy ranted. Botan and Yusuke shared a blinking glance with each other before looking at the demanding expression of the small boy.

"Come again?" Yusuke enquired.

"Konoha! You know, the Hidden Leaf Village! It's one of the strongest villages ever, if not thee strongest village ever! And I, Naruto Uzumaki, will rise to the throne of Hokage! Then everyone will have to look up to me and respect me!" Naruto shouted boisterously, yet he began to feel deflated at the anything but encouraging looks he got from the tough-looking guy and pretty lady.

Yusuke couldn't care less and Botan had a bizarre expression on her cute face.

"You lost me." Yusuke mumbled.

"Really?"

"From the very first word dat exited your trap."

Naruto dropped his arms in a dramatic fashion while letting out a moan to signal his demise, "Aw," Wincing as the harsh reality sunk on him, he was screwed beyond all hope. Naruto raised his head, "I'm never gonna get home!"

"Oi, you! Look on the bright side," Botan levitated to Naruto's side, giving him a sympathetic pat on his head, "At least you were reaching for the stars!"

"Gee. Thanks for the pep talk," Naruto mumbled sarcastically, getting a sigh out of Botan, the blue haired grim reaper retracting her hand, 'Damn it. How could I end up in this weird place? I gotta get back somehow otherwise Sasuke is as good as toast! Old snake-face is gonna tear his soul out and put on his body like a new set of clothes!'

If that happened then Naruto would never again be able to look at Sakura-chan in the eye. She was the one who begged him in the first place to bring Sasuke back, which was kind of a low blow for Naruto seeing his crush crying her eyes out over another boy.

Still, for her, he would've done it, because he wanted Sakura to be happy, no matter what - even if Sakura's happiness was at Sasuke's side, not his.

That, and Naruto had never turned down a promise from a friend, because after all, if he couldn't even keep one lousy promise to a friend in need, then how could he expect to keep his own promises he had made to himself, like his vow to become Hokage no matter the cost!?

The simple answer was he couldn't.

"Kyaaaa!"

A terrified scream of a young girl rang out throughout the air.

"Who's that?" Naruto asked curiously, thankful for the distraction.

Yusuke lazily turned his head in the direction of the scream, but as soon as his eyes caught sight of the one who had screamed, his mask of indifference shattered, yet was quickly replaced by a mixture of anger, and evident fear.

A young woman with longish coffee brown hair styled in two braids currently found herself in the wrong end of town. She wore the traditional Japanese purple sailor uniform for girls of Sarayashiki High Jr School – a purple top and a long purple skirt reaching to her ankles - with a yellow scarf, white socks, and brown shoes on her feet.

"Keiko," Yusuke growled, his anger rising seeing his childhood friend surrounded by a group of wannabes.

"Keiko? Who's she?" Naruto enquired, though Yusuke was too immersed into glaring holes in all of those assholes' heads for even going near Keiko. His temper basically rose past six hundred degrees cellulose once one of the wannabes tried grabbing Keiko from behind.

"Bastards!" Yusuke flew off, with Naruto's eyes tracking him all the way.

The blonde's eyes narrowed dangerously at the sight of six bullies surrounding that Keiko-girl Yusuke was rushing to protect.

"You had better go help him, Naruto," Botan spoke up, putting her playful, amicable demeanour on the shelf for once to use her serious one.

Naruto turned his eyes upwards in Botan's direction, "Why? Can't he handle those losers himself?" He wondered, shifting his blue orbs back to Yusuke in time to see him fly through one of the thugs as if he was a ghost or something, "Whoa! How the heck did he do that? He is like a-." Naruto gulped, not wanting to finish.

"A ghost." But unfortunately for the boy, Botan finished for him.

"Aaaah! Ghost!" Naruto cowered, bending down and holding his arms over his head, "Naruto don't like ghosts."

"Well, you had better suck it up, young man, otherwise Keiko's going to get hurt!" Botan warned, reminding Naruto of the young woman's predicament.

"You're right, lady," Naruto stood up, staring intently at the wannabe thugs entrapping Keiko in a circle with Yusuke helpless to do anything to prevent his friend from harm, "Besides, I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto was pumping himself up by slapping his cheeks, "In case you didn't know, I don't run and I don't hide! So you just hold on tight Keiko, because the hero's on his way! Up, up, and away I go!"

A galloping Naruto not only left a trail of dust in his wake but a blinking Botan.

"That's our hero, folks."

XxX

"Damn it. I forgot about that!" Yusuke growled, dejectedly watching his childhood friend fearfully covering herself up while the thugs eyed her with lecherous gleams in their eyes.

"Hey, you jerks! Why don't-cha pick on someone your own size!"

"Well, looks like the cavalry's decided to get off of his high horse," Yusuke said. He knew not to underestimate Naruto after that little demonstration of power the blond had showed off, involuntarily of course. But Yusuke had witnessed it. And he had seen enough to know these guys should be nothing to Naruto.

Such was the case. As the thugs and Keiko looked in the direction of the demand, one of the hooligans was sent flying into his brethren after getting smacked in his face. Both of them sprawled across the unforgiving concrete floor.

"Whoa. The kid doesn't half-assed his punches that's for sure," Yusuke gaped, noticing the disbelieving expressions on the faces of Keiko and her would-be captors.

"What the fuck? How the fuck does a little kid hit that hard!?" One of the thugs asked, staring angrily, yet somewhat fearfully at the little blond foreigner-looking boy standing protectively in front of the young brown haired woman.

"Give it up, ya losers!" Naruto mocked.

"What?"

"A couple of weak ass bullies like you don't stand a ghost of a chance against me! So why don't cha run on home to mommy, before I have to open the old can of whoop ass, dattebayo," Naruto smirked, positioning himself in a loose boxing stance before challengingly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

The group of hoodlums glanced at the blond with incredulous expressions on their faces, thinking he had lost his marbles. Was he really going to take them on six on one – or four on one since the other two he had dirtily gotten the drop on wasn't going to be getting up for some time.

"Are you serious? Kid, why don't you run on home to mommy. The big kids got work here. Hehe."

"Yeah little gaijin. You're in the wrong part of town to be playing hero."

Naruto eyed the wannabes with a pouting inquisitive expression on his face. What was a gaijin? Putting that aside, the blond nimbly danced up to the nearest smirking hooligan – the one in the middle – and quickly ran up his knee to implant his foot on his face, ricocheting off of him to nail his friend in his face with a roundhouse-kick, sending him plummeting to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Now he's takin' a page outta Rey Mysterio's book," Yusuke mumbled. Six-One-Nine for the motherfucking win he guessed.

"What!? The hell's he doing that!?" The hooligan who was used as the ring rope for Naruto's spinning kick asked in an feigned angry manner to mask his ever growing fear. This kid was looking like, for all intents and purposes, that he was going to kick the stuffing out of them, "You better watch your step gaij-."

Naruto quite literally silenced him with a direct palm-thrust to his face, forcibly launching him towards his other friend on the left.

"What the-?" That was all he could say before his friend crashed into him, throwing both of them away from Keiko.

"Talk to the hand because the face ain't listening!" Naruto chirped.

'W-What's going on?' Keiko thought with blinking eyes. One moment she was walking home after checking up on her childhood sweetheart to make sure his body was doing okay, the next these jerks tried to gangbang her, only for this little boy who looked even younger than her and Yusuke to come to her rescue.

"You can go home if you want lady," Naruto suggested. For a moment Keiko thought he was staring at her, but a quick look behind her reminded the traditional school girl there was one more hooligan, though with the way he was shaking it was clear he didn't want to fight Naruto.

But who could blame him?

"But I don't even know you," Keiko said.

Naruto shrugged, "Don't worry about it. This one's on the house."

Keiko, not one to look a gift's horse in the mouth, offered her saviour a small bow, "Thank you." In return she got a bashful grin from the blond who happily watched her jog on past him and away from the embarrassed hooligans.

"There! Now the ghost-guy can't haunt me for leaving his lady-friend to get hurt! HAHA!" Naruto guffawed boisterously.

"Huh? He's afraid of ghosts?" Yusuke wondered with blinking eyes, idly taking notice to a giggling Botan hovering over to his side on her oar.

"W-What are you?" The remaining thug asked, "There's, j-just n-no way some kid can be this strong!"

Naruto glanced at the last thug with a pleasantly sweet grin on his features, which just served to not only frighten him more but also patronize him, "I'm the guy who's about to put ya in hospital and call it a night. Hiya, Naruto Uzumaki here, aka your just desserts."

"Oh! That was a clever one!" Botan chirped, looking a kid in a wrestling match viewing Naruto sprint at the remaining thug who screamed before getting his ass tore a new one.

"Yeah! He ain't half bad either."

"I'll say, go Naruto!"


	14. Naruto in YuYu Hakusho extended

**Disclaimer: I don't YuYu Hakusho, Naruto or Tekken**

* * *

><p>"Aw, man. My back hurts," Naruto complained, walking along the pavement in the new big wide city he found himself with the Ghost-boy, Yusuke, and the pretty-shinigami lady by his side. On such a hot day, the blond boy donned his ruined orange jacket around his waist as if it was a karate belt showing off his black shirt with a red six-like symbol printed on the front.<p>

"_Whaddya expect_?" Yusuke asked rhetorically, floating alongside his new companion with his arms folded behind his head, "_That you were gonna get the luxury treatment up in a homeless shelter_?" He continued, sarcasm dipping into his tone.

"Can't argue with ya there," Naruto agreed, turning his head towards Yusuke to give the spirit a thankful grin, "Thanks for showing me to that place, Yusuke. I don't know what I would've done without it."

Yusuke blinked at the smiling boy with curious eyes, "_Uhm. Well, don't mention it, kid_," He returned, putting an indignant pout on Naruto's face for the nickname that got him to smirk, "_Just returning the favour for you putting those douchebags in the trashcans bee-four they could put their filthy hands on Keiko._"

Naruto's petulant sulky look receded at the mention of the pretty young woman whom he had rescued via his _sheer _awesomeness, "_Yeah. _I was awesome. I kicked so many asses that night it wasn't even funny," He giggled, "Man, I wonder if that cute girl is thinking about me."

"_Don't get any ideas, squirt,"_ Yusuke warned with a sharp tone, yet Naruto only gave him an innocent, blinking eyed look in return, "_She's off limits."_

"Woo. Do I hear wedding bells?"

"_N-No. It ain't like that! She's my friend!_"

"Oh. I get it now. So she is available. Good to know!"

"_No!_ _I told ya she's off the market_!"

"Is that a warning?"

"_Naw, more like a command, asshole!_"

"Like you can tell me what to do."

"_The hell I can't! I'll wipe your ass all the way over to Chinatown and back if you even think of double-crossing me bitch_!"

"Oh! It's on now!"

"_Bring it_!"

A blinking-eyed Botan bizarrely watched Yusuke and Naruto scuffle it out on the sidewalk in a huge dust-ball of white smoke. Naturally, since Naruto was the only human who could see and interact with spirits in the immediate area, it made for quite the amusing spectacle, or worrying; depending on which side of the spectrum one was on.

All around him people were strangely viewing a small blond haired child fighting with, well for a lack of a better term, air, pure, essential life-nutriment; air. And he was yelling all sorts of weird taunts, as if he could see an invisible person no one else could.

"_Those two certainly get along like two-peas in a pond!_" Botan beamed, her chirpy tone holding a hint of sarcasm, before she cleared her throat to get the two fighting boys' attention, "_Ahm. Isn't there something you ought to be doing young man, instead of giving reasons to the helpful workers at the mental asylum to look into admitting poor Naruto into their wonderful society_?_"_

Naruto and Yusuke separated, glancing around them with varying expressions on their faces; a sheepish one on Naruto's, and an irritated, cross one on Yusuke's, the former rubbing the back of his head and the latter taking out a golden egg from his back pocket.

"_Yeah, yeah, good duty, blah, blah, come back to life, bad deeds, yadda, yadda, equals first class ticket straight to the flames of hell,_" Yusuke summarized in a bored tone, "_Ain't shit to do around this place. What do you want me to do about it? I can't magically make a problem appear outta thin air to spread my goodwill on it like a sprinkling fairy dust. __**Yay-. **__Not…"_

"_Well at least you made a decent start_." Botan offered helpfully, putting a thoughtful look on Naruto's face.

"What do you mean? I don't remember Yusuke doing anything for good karma," Naruto said, trying to rekindle any significant event which could give his new found ally the good positive energy he would need to come back to life, as Yusuke had explained to him yesterday.

"_It's means a certain blabber mouth oughta learn to keep her trap shut,_" Yusuke quipped, sending a glare at the blue haired reaper which she returned with one of her own.

"_Well you've got to start somewhere young man._" Botan said sternly, though it didn't hold up, as a jovial, yet mocking look appeared on her face, "_Here's my impression of Yusuke; 'Help me, I'm burning, I'm burning'!"_

"Ha!" Naruto guffawed, cutely clapping his hands together with little regard for his own reputation, e.g. if he looked like a crazy person or not, "She got you good there Yusuke!"

Botan gigged at the fuming expression on Yusuke's face, "_Alright! I'm getting to work. You have me a shut-up,_" Yusuke threw up his hands, looking up at Botan sitting contently on her oar as if she held all the answers, "_So, 'chief', whom's the next sap who needs the good stuff?"_

With a contemplative expression on her cute face, Botan reached into her assets to pull out her small, black notebook. Opening it up, the blue haired reaper scrolled through its contents, before shortly snapping her fingers, "_Eureka_! _There just so happens to be a wandering earth-bound spirit nearby!"_

"_Then what the hell are we standing around here yapping our gums about? Let's make waste and go!" _Yusuke suggested gleefully, eager to earn more positive energy for his spirit egg so he could come back to life, thus putting an end to his mother's and Keiko's tears.

"You sure changed your tune," Naruto noted with a smirk latched onto his face.

Yusuke levelled him with a deadpan expression of his own, "_Well, duh. Case ya didn't notice I don't like not being seen?_" He let out a heavy sigh of exasperation, "_Gah, it feels like it's been forever since I've had a good cheeseburger._"

Naruto nodded his head empathetically, "I know how that feels, man," His growling stomach reminded him of his one-true favourite meal he had been deprived of as of recently, making him rub his gut with a moan of despondency, "Aw, what I wouldn't do for a little taste of ramen."

Yusuke looked weirdly at Naruto, "_Huh? That's all you want? Ya can stuff your face with all-the-noodles-you-can-eat down at the restaurant Keiko's folks own." _

Naruto's expression brightened instantly, eliciting giggles from Botan who covered her mouth with her long sleeves, "Really, that Keiko-girl's parents own a ramen shop?"

"_That's what I said,_" Yusuke deadpanned.

"Alright." Naruto grinned, "Lemme at that place right after I get myself some money," Although he could always just show-up, hoping for a free bowl of delicious mouth-watering noodles as a sort of reward for saving their daughter, Naruto knew showing up there without any money in his pockets wasn't wise since he didn't want to come off as some kind of freeloader.

"Though right now I got stuff to take care off," Naruto announced.

"_Oh. Won't you be accompanying Yusuke on his latest quest, Naruto?_" Botan asked with a slight frown on her face. She liked observing the two dim-witted, but ultimately good-natured boys in their 'neutral habit.' They were like an experiment. "_Why, I thought the two of you were just beginning to form the ultimate tag-team, spreading goodwill to the gloomy spirits down on their luck!_"

"_Like a cheap imitation of The Hardy Boys," _Yusuke quipped dryly, rolling his eyes, "_Only instead of solving cases, we would be going around cheering up wandering ghosts down-in-the-dumps so ya can do your job, which is to guide their attached-asses to the big pink place up in the fluffy white sky._"

"_Exactly!" _Botan chirped with a wink, gigging secretively, '_Though you couldn't be more closer to the truth there silly head_!'

"Nah, I'll pass," Naruto said nonchalantly, shaking his head. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of folded up paper, "Gotta visit the neighbourhood office. Those guys who work at the shelter told me if I go there I should be able to get an apartment. So I figured,-" He shrugged absently, "-Yeah, why the heck not?"

"_Well_, _yeah. If it gets ya a proper pad to crash at for the night instead of sharing a place with four other shady dudes, then by all means, lemme be your first guest when you happen to get it." _Yusuke rationalized straightforwardly, getting a nod from Naruto, "_It all makes sense now… your gratitude towards me that is._"

"Yeah. You really helped a guy out there. Thanks again," Naruto said, spinning around, then lifting up his hand to toss a wave over his shoulder, "Anyway, I better hop to it. The neighbourhood office won't be open all day I bet. See ya, Pretty-lady, later Grumpy-pants," His mischievous bidding left a blinking eyed on Yusuke's face and elicited a gasp from Botan.

"_Grumpy-pants? You son-of-a-."_

Naruto snickered, blitzing away from the fuming Yusuke as if he had rocket shoes on.

"_Oh my, he's quite the little charmer, isn't he?"_

"_Yeah. You'd say that 'Pretty-lady'."_

"_Aw, Is Mr Grumpy-pants sulking?_" An groan echoed throughout the air, "_You know, if you turned that frown of yours upside down you wouldn't get negative labels slapped onto you by cheeky little rascals now._"

"_Whatever. Let's just get to work."_

"_Oh. So now Mr Slacker wants to work?_"

Yusuke shook his fist with a threatening look on his face.

"_Kidding, kidding. No need to blow your jets, silly-head! Your helpful guide Botan will lead you to your next client!_"

"_Humph. You better."_

A Soldier in the Wilderness

**C**

**H**

**A**

**P**

**T**

**E**

**R**

**TWO**

Square off, David and Goliath

XxX

(Sarayashiki Junior High School – With Keiko)

XxX

'Why can't I stop thinking about him?'

One Keiko Yukimura thought to herself, staring out at the window from her position on her desk.

She didn't even mean her childhood friend Yusuke Urameshi either. No, the one illustrating in the recess of her imaginative mind was that heroic boy clad in ragged orange – the one who had swooped in heroically to rescue her from a group of thugs without asking for anything in return.

Why was this concept so hard for the young woman to come to grips with? A stout-hearted guy, a mock Spiderman if you will, had saved her, no payment required.

Having lived in a neighbourhood frequently inhabited by wannabe thugs with no sense of right or wrong morals, the young straight-A student found it incredibly difficult to come to terms with anyone lingering so discernibly on the while side of the good vs evil spectrum that even a baby could tell he was a decent guy.

Even Yusuke was only a whisker away from falling completely into the black area, but that was one of the reasons why she desired to change him. Only now the blond-haired young man's appearance had complicated things for her.

She wanted to shift Yusuke into the white area once he literally became of age again, but she had her doubts that she would even like such a character change.

Wouldn't it be better for her to go with someone who fit her tastes nicely? She didn't want to date the teen since there was so many things she wanted to find out about him, one of those being his name obviously, but at this point in this time she was more intrigued to explore intimate couple-related activities with a hero clad in orange than a villainous badboy clad in green.

"Miss Yukimura!"

"Yes," Keiko flinched with a blink of her eyes, looking forward to see the impatient form of her teacher.

"I've been trying to get your attention several times now," The strict hulking figure of her homeroom teacher said, drawing a blush from the girl. Had she really been that out of it? How embarrassing, "I expect better from you, as class representative, Miss Yukimura."

"Sorry, Iwamoto-sensei, it won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't."

The rest of her school day had continued in a similar pattern; people, friends, seniors, and superiors alike, all attempting to bring her out of her own little world, the world where she monitored the boy clad in tattered orange.

Just who was he?

Why was he in tattered clothing?

Did his clothes get ruined from another heroic task he was undergoing?

So many things regarding him were surrounded in mystery.

And Keiko wanted to find out more about him.

Come the end of the school day Keiko wasn't surprised to hear the concerned call of her friends followed by their approaching footsteps.

"Oh. Hey, guys?" Keiko asked with a forced smile at the two nondescript girls, "Is everything okay?"

"We wanted to ask you the same thing?" The blond-haired twin pigtailed girl asked.

"Yeah, you've been acting really weird today," The brown-haired bespectacled specified.

"Oh, really?" Keiko asked with feigned idle contemplation, staring off into the distance, "I didn't notice."

Her friends shared a blank glance to each other.

"Coming?" Keiko wondered, starting up on her trek again.

Shaking off their initial confusion at Keiko's unnatural neutral behaviour to the oddity of herself, her friends joined her at her sides, "We thought you would," The twin pigtailed girl insisted.

"It's not usually like you to drift you off in classes, you know," The brown-haired girl added on.

Smiling ruefully, Keiko acquiesced, "I guess."

"Is it about Urameshi?" The bespectacled girl pondered, causing the unofficial leader of their little do-gooder group to stop in her tracks. It wasn't until the two got a couple of feet ahead that they realized they were missing someone of their little trio, "Keiko?" Looking over their shoulders, they found her staring up at the sky as if seeing something only she could.

"No," Keiko clarified in an eerily calm tone of voice, sauntering forward once again.

"Uhh. Okay!" The brown-haired girl said awkwardly, matching Keiko's stride once the de-facto leader took her place in the centre of the trio.

"But…"

Their ears were wide open at Keiko's continuation.

"It is about a boy, though."

This time it was their turn to slam on the proverbial brakes.

"Huh?" Keiko stopped, manoeuvring her body around to see the blank expressions on her friends' faces, "Are you two okay?"

"Keiko-."

"Has a boyfriend-."

"That's not Urameshi-."

"No wonder she was acting weird today. It all makes sense now!"

"Come on you two, don't jump to conclusions!" Keiko pleaded with an awkward wave of dismissal of her hand, "I don't," Keiko's voice lowered, her eyes now down-casted, "-Even know his name."

"But you do know him right?" The pigtailed girl probed, ambling forward in sync with the brown-haired girl, prompting Keiko to restart her journey once the two were at her sides once again.

"Not unnecessarily," Keiko murmured with a shake of her head, "He heroically came to my aid yesterday when I found myself cornered by a group of thugs," Her girlfriends squealed.

"Just like in the movies!"

"How romantic!"

They continued on their fan girl visionary phase for several moments until finally stopping to notice Keiko wasn't basking in the lovey-dovey implications of the boy's courageous play-by-play knight rescues damsel-in-distress act of her.

"I'm really confused."

"Why?" Keiko found both of her shoulders clasped warmly by her friends' hands.

"Because," Keiko started with a deep inhale, "He didn't even ask for a reward for the job of saving me that he accomplished. It's like he had no interior motive."

"But is that really such a bad thing?" The pigtailed girl winced from Keiko's deadpanned look, "Right. I almost forgot."

"Everybody around here has an interior motive," The cynical girl grumped momentarily, sighing afterward to release her pent-up sulkiness, "Though just once it would be nice to find someone who isn't just out for themselves," She looked into the distance. She seemed to be doing that a lot recently, "Someone capable of performing heroic acts selflessly, no payment for their services required."

"Who's to say he isn't like that? I mean, he did save you for free after all."

"Yeah! That has to count for something."

"I just don't know," Keiko said with uncertainty, pausing her step when she found an enormous shadow actually managing to eclipse her and her friends, "Oh, excuse me…" Her voice completely derailed off course as her now wide eyes took in the huge form of a teenager. She could only differentiate him from an adult due to his school uniform.

"This her?" The giant of a schoolboy echoed deeply, sounding more like a man in his twenties than a teen boy going to school. He had short brown hair perched on his head, impassive brown orbs, and a wide hulking posture. His uniform consisted of a terribly messy white dress shirt not tucked into his torn blue jeans with a crest on his right pack, and black shoes on his feet.

"Yes, boss," Keiko felt her blood turn cold hearing a familiar voice. As if confirming her fears, a head poked itself from the big guy's arm, "That's her, the kid's accomplice."

"I see." He boomed with a simplistic voice.

"What do you want with us?" The brown-haired girl stuttered, shaking nervously, actions that mirrored the pigtailed girl's ones perfectly.

The muscle-boy growled, "Russell has no patience or time for weaklings," The now known Russell said, pointing a giant index finger at Keiko, "His business is with her."

"But I've done nothing to warrant your attention though," Keiko explained hastily, shrinking only slightly, which was made redundant by the giant teenager closing the small space she put between them instantly.

"Do not lie to Russell."

"Yeah don't lie to our leader, girl," Another one of the thugs from late night appeared from Russell's other side, "You had your boyfriend attack us the other night when we only wanted to talk with you."

Keiko didn't know what she was more appalled about; the fact that these goons had the audacity to downplay their attempted rape of her or call that boy her boyfriend. They were both annoyingly juvenile in their own rights.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Keiko argued with a stomped foot. "It was you jerks who were harassing me! He was only doing the right thing."

"So you do know that worm," Russell said, smacking his giant fist into the palm of his other hand threateningly, making Keiko's friends shrink back behind her, "Tell Russell now so he may grind him into dust with his hands!"

"Yeah!"

"That'll teach that little shit to mess with us!"

"I don't know where he is!" Keiko hurried, "So just leave us alone!"

"Wrong answer," Russell snarled.

"Oi!" Russell turned a disdainful look to four boys moving protectively in front of the girls, though his attention was focused primarily on the ginger one. Beside his different coloured uniform distinguishing him from his posse the tall-shouldered boy had an angular-shaped face and his pompadour-styled ginger hair gave him an eighties look.

Unlike his three friends whom wear dark blue coloured military school uniforms, his one was all light blue.

Although they all stood before him with their finest auras of bravado, the beads of sweat rolling down their cheeks revealed their anxiety.

"Leave 'em alone," The ginger-nut said, playing spokesman for him and his team, "And pick on someone your own size jerk."

"You request Russell to pick on someone his own size, yet you oppose him with zero amounts of power!?" Russell boomed, chuckling deeply, "You funny. You keep Russell entertained. He might just keep you around as a comedian."

"Arrogant jerk," The pompadour-haired teen muttered sourly.

"You think we've got a chance of beating him Kuwabara?" One of the ginger's followers addressed their leader, short and robust.

"No choice Okubo," Kuwabara said, lgnoring the tremble in his legs as he stared the mammoth down, "As faithful members of the code of honour we will not just standby and watch helplessly as someone gets bullied into submission. Even if that bully is a gigantic fucking Godzilla, we won't just do nothing!"

"What'd you call Russell?!"

"He called ya a stupid ape boss."

"Dat's right! What that scumbag said! I called ya a stupid butt-ugly Godzilla, punk!" Kuwabara yelled bravely, only to immediately regret his choice of words when he found his face ensnarled in a powerful grip, "Uh… can we talk about this, please?"

"Kuwabara!" His friends yelped, mirroring Keiko's and her friends' horrified expressions.

"Puny inspect! Russell squash you like the inspect you are!" Russell said, crushing Kuwabara's head with a mere grip.

"Get him boss!"

"Yeah teach that motherfucker a lesson!"

'This is awful. Won't someone do something!' Keiko thought helplessly, watching Kuwabara's face begin to turn purple from the immense pressure of the giant's grip.

Fortunately, fate strolled right into the open.

"Alright! I'm gonna get myself a flat!"

Russell's crew winced simultaneously, blenching at the cheery voice resonating from behind them, "It's him!"

"Eh?" Kuwabara's posse was left stupefied, as were Keiko's, while the girl felt a wave of relieved euphoria flow through her at the sight of her hero clad in orange.

"It's you," Keiko sighed.

Hearing a familiar voice, Naruto turned his head, donning a smile at the sight of Keiko, "Hey, I know you… kinda," He chuckled sheepishly, "You're that girl I saved."

Keiko giggled despite the situation they were in. She couldn't help it. The boy's cheerful nature was infectious, "That's me. Only I never got your name sir."

"Naruto," Naruto introduced himself, "Naruto Uzumaki. Yours?"

"Oh. I'm Keiko Yukimura."

"Wonderful," Naruto said satirically with a clap of his hands, now taking notice to the big guy and the other nondescript goons, noticing the undistinguished goons flinching at his patronizing stare, "And what can I do for you today, Keiko? Lemme guess, these jerks bothering you again?"

"Uh. Not quite." Keiko hesitated, drawing a blank look from Naruto.

"Me, Russell, need a word with you," Russell clarified for the young lady, getting an effortless, idle nod from Naruto.

"Okay," Naruto said blandly, already guessing the guys he beat up for Keiko's safety called this big oaf to come and do the same to him. 'Come to think of it this guy's got a heck of a presence about him. He's gotta have some kinda energy to be able to utilize killing intent this proficiently.'

"You're gonna get it now you little shit!" One of the thugs bragged, earning himself a bland stare from his recent tormentor, followed by a backhand that sent him flying miles away.

"Ahhh! See Boss! He's a bully!" One of the other thugs cried, cowering along with the rest of his group.

"Whoa. That kid's strong," Sawamura, another member of Kuwabara's crew, murmured in shock.

"I know," Kirishima, the last of the three members of Kuwabara's group, whispered much in the same manner, "I didn't think anyone other than Urameshi could hit _that_ hard. Hey, you think he can beat Russell?"

"I hope so," Okubo said, looking worriedly at their trapped leader, "Otherwise Kuwabara's done for, you guys."

"I know," Sawamura gulped, weighing the consequences of jumping Russell to get Kuwabara free of his grip, ultimately deciding on waiting until the kid made his move, "Get him man."

"You," Russell fumed.

"I'm me." Naruto replied flippantly, crossing one arm around his torso while using the other one to dig out his ear.

"How dare you attack one of Russell's boys?" His grip tightened on Kuwabara's head, eliciting a loud cry of agony from the ginger delinquent which drew multiple gasps from his own posse and Keiko's.

"Kuwabara!"

Racing forward, Naruto danced underneath a wild swing from Russell, smashing his heel with enough potency into his wrist that he instinctively let go of the ginger-delinquent.

"What!" Russell's widened eyes helplessly watched Naruto move Kuwabara and Keiko several feet away from him. The former was on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and the latter's hand was in his own. Of course the friends of Keiko and Kuwabara didn't stick around to be caught in the headlights, they followed after their respective de-facto leaders, 'He freed that fool with one puny kick. That concept shouldn't even be conceivable, unless…'

"Wow," One of the Russell's boys murmured.

"That gaijin swiped that ginger-nut from the boss so easily."

"What is he?"

"Kuwabara," Sawamura said after Kuwabara was placed down on his rear by Naruto, "You okay? Ya got squeezed pretty good there man."

"Yeah… I think," Kuwabara struggled, trying to shake off the cobwebs with a hand placed on his forehead.

"You'll be alright now, pal," Kuwabara ceased altogether with his soothing of his pain at the serious assurance of his saviour, gazing up at the blond who still had a hold on Keiko's hand, "As long as I'm here anyway."

"You really think you'll be able to beat Russell, dude?" Kirishima asked unsurely, stealing glances at the mountain of a schoolboy, "He's like the toughest kid on the block."

"Yeah," Okubo said, "Not even Kuwabara and Urameshi go near him if they can help it."

"I can see why," Naruto admitted with a mutter, "But I'm not 'em. I'm more than capable of taking this overgrown mammoth to the cleaners before leaving his butt out to dry," Kuwabara's and Keiko's friends winced at Naruto's audacious quip.

"You wanna die?" Russell asked.

"You can ask yourself that when we duke it out tomorrow," Russell raised an eyebrow, "Don't play deaf, you heard me loud and clear. We can butt heads tomorrow after we've found a secluded area, then we can really cut loose without risking the safety of others who could potentially get caught up in the crossfire."

"Keh. You make a good point," Russell acknowledged, crossing his bulky arms over his chest.

"Gee. You think?" Naruto said sarcastically.

"Fine. Russell accepts your challenge," Russell said, much to the shock of his posse. Watching his adversary let go of the girl's hand to approach him without fear, Russell tried to clarify, "If you chicken out on Russell-."

"Trust me," Naruto cut him off, never changing his leisured stride until he was standing directly before Russell, gazing up at the big young man with a smirk playing on his lips, "I wouldn't even dream of it."

The suffocating tension made one of Keiko's friends gulp.

"Good," Russell said, watching Naruto lift up his hand for a handshake, "Huh? You want to shake Russell's hand?"

"It's what any good sport would do," Naruto explained smoothly, "So don't leave a guy hanging."]

"Hahaha." Russell chuckled deeply, wiping the excess off of his visage with a quick inhale to firm grab Naruto's small hand in his own huge hand, feeling the young man squeezing, 'Good grip.'

"No way, he actually challenged Russell," Sawamura whispered.

"He's either really brave-."

"Or wants to die."

"Let's just hope it's the latter," Kuwabara muttered, watching the two break apart before Naruto began making his way back over to them, "Though Short stuff is gonna need more than just bravery to beat that gorilla."

"So," Naruto said with an inhale, "Can I chaperone you ladies home?"

While Keiko's friends looked at each other, Keiko smiled brightly, "Sure thing, Naruto." Offering the young lady his arm, Keiko inclined, intertwining her arm around Naruto's, "That would be lovely."

"Let's roll," Naruto grinned, sauntering past Russell, briefly locking eyes with his opponent.

Kuwabara and his friends just watched the short stare off blankly, actually lost for words how smoothly the boy had negotiated with Russell of all people. Eventually, they snapped out of their daydream when they realized as soon as Naruto was out of the distance they would be left alone with Russell.

"Hey! Wait for us!"

"You sure it was a good idea to let them leave boss?" One of Russell's boys asked him as Kuwabara and his cre took after Naruto.

"Yes. Russell has a hunch a fight with him will be more difficult than he originally assumed. He does not wish to crush any innocent inspect. Tomorrow, tho, when we battle in a sequestered area Russell will crush his bones into dust with his bare hands."

"Yeah boss!"

"That'll teach that little shit to mess with our crew!"

* * *

><p><strong>And an Tekken-induced Russell from the Bully game is in this. lol.<strong>

**I had to add him. He's epic and he'll make good foil for Naruto, not to mention a good friend. Besides that this version of Keiko's definitely going to take more of a proactive role in the story in the upcoming arcs without being relegated to just main's girl only like she was in the original story. Might have to do a timeskip, but hey, at least that'll give the others time to hone their skills too.**


	15. DBZ-powered Ryoga

A golden luminesce of spherical orb randomly appeared on a high skyscraper in the renown crazed-possessed city known as Nerima, home to several cursed fighters. Conveniently, the thunder-storms echoed voluminously, releasing waves of rain continuously, a substance which would've been most catastrophic to the yellow-clad young man overlooking the city with an almost detached aura hanging over him.

"Finally," He said to himself, noticeably content to feel the rain splash over his form, "I've been returned."

The tan-skinned young man's garments consisted of the aforementioned yellow-tinted goggles over his eyes, a small dark purple-patterned cap fitted on his short black crop hair, and a brown which concealed the remainder of his chosen attire he had chosen to return to his original homeland with.

Looking up, he leisurely allowed the raindrops to fall onto his goggles-clad face as if it was the first time he done so, "I'll never forget what you've done for me, Goku-san," He said, thinking of his former mentor with an air of fond reminiscence. "Because of you, I've not only become so much stronger than I ever was beforehand, but I no longer change form whatever water so much as touches my body."

Stupidest decision he had ever made in his life. If he could ask the mighty dragon who rid him of his handicapped curse in the first place it would be to send him back in the time so he could pound his past-self for even getting the asinine to hunt his former chief rival to the ends of the earth.

…Not his proudest moment for sure.

Though he wouldn't get greedy, because at the end of the day, he had what he wanted at least; to be free of his curses.

"…Just wish my other curse could be cured to," He mumbled miserably, heaving a heavy sigh. It seemed even the otherworldly dragon of omniscience was out of answers when it came to ridding the hulking young man of his terrible sense of direction.

"_Aw, don't worry, Ryoga. So long as you keep your mind unclouded, free of any thoughts of negativity, I highly doubt you'll get lost again! Trust me. Now, I want you to promise me you'll keep up with your training, because one day I'm going to come to your world, and when I do, I would be honoured if you'd accept a challenge from me, not as sensei or student but as rivals in the martial arts._"

Ryoga silently gasped, shooting his head up with a startled expression evident on his features after his instincts had triggered a memory of his former sensei's last words to him before he was teleported back to his homeland.

"Feh. You and that indomitable confidence; its damn right infectious, Goku!" Ryoga said jestingly, "Just where do you get it from? And, can you spare me some?"

Roguishly shaking his head in feigned debrief at how mellowed he had become during his years in West City, Ryoga sobbed up, instantly returning to his stoic-exterior.

"Since I'm not exactly Batman, I should get off this skyscraper," Starting from his martial arts-designed slippers-clad feet, a swirling aura of wind frantically blew his cape-like cloak behind his broad shoulders, revealing his sleeveless yellow Gi-top with a distinct Chinese kanji encircled on his left peak, over a long-sleeved green shirt, and a pair of yellow Gi pants. Once his feet were off of the ground, Ryoga continued to defy gravity, continuously rising up into the sky until he was in the midst of the clouds themselves, the soundless wind blowing the bangs of his hair.

"As much as I would enjoy knocking Saotome down a few pegs, I would much rather spend time with Akane than prove my superiority to him," Ryoga said with closed eyes, doing a quick scan of the city with his senses in search of his beloved. His desired results came to him near instantaneously, "Good, she's close by, with Saotome coincidently enough, but I supposed that's to be expected."

Grunting slightly, an eternal fiery blaze of green armour sprung to his life around his body, giving him the necessary boost of immense speed he used to take off as if he was a super enhanced jetpack.

"After all, they are engaged," He said aloud, considering this train-of-thought more perceptively than he would've done so four years ago, 'Trunks and Bulma once insinuated that the time-flow of my homeland and theirs could vary, and, judging by Saotome's static Ki-signature, I would go ahead and say that's about as true as Goku's putting an established restaurant out of business,' He quipped with serious consideration.

"Not that it matters, but if Saotome's Ki is anything to base how much time has passed here since my department I'd say not very much. And if that's the case than there's now at least a four year age-difference between Saotome and myself."

Wow. That was a mouthful and so far more eloquently put that a younger Ryoga would've been lost had someone told him all. He really owed Bulma a lot for his improved intelligence. The amount of sheer hours she dedicated to teaching him the basics of mathematics and Japanese was heart-warmingly touching to say the least.

Ryoga could now say with his own unbreakable confidence that his stuttering days were now over.

"Well, I guess I'll find out for myself real soon."

In a burst of speed, Ryoga shot forward past several city blocks, leaving a long green stream in his wake.

**The Return of a Lone Wolf**

Chapter

Home

Sweet

Home… Huh?

One

XxX

(Elsewhere – Location Unknown)

"D-Damn you!"

A young gorgeous red-haired woman with a pair of busty breasts tiredly stuttered, her form forced painfully to a fence she occasionally ambled on with casual ease. Her aforementioned red hair was styled in a braid, her attire consisted of a red long-sleeved Chinese silk top that appeared several sizes too big for her, though the rain made it cling to her luscious curvy body, and a black sash kept it shut. The last of her gear were navy blue sweatpants, martial art slippers, and a pair of blue wristbands on her wrists.

"Ranma!"

A beautiful blue haired young woman shouted in concern, clasping her mouth with her hands. Having only just finished school, the blue haired beauty wore her school uniform which was made up of a light blue dress that complimented her midnight blue hair, and similar coloured wrist-high jacket. Underneath those was a white-collared blouse and the last of the young woman's distinguishable clothing was her schoolbag and shoes on her feet.

Gazing timidly up at the massive demonic-like creature of sheer interrogation, Akane pleaded, "Please! Just leave us alone! We haven't done anything to you!"

The creature slowly rotated his bull-esque head, grinning so viciously at the overwhelmed girl she instinctively shrank with a bead of sweat rolling off of her face. Her eyes further dilated in petrified anticipation when the creature tightened its massive fist and cocked it back, launching it at Ranma with a surprising speed who could do nothing but close her eyes and await the pain that would inevitably befall her.

A purple dashing blur first caught the blue haired beauty's eyes, followed by the demonic being's fist halting soundlessly in place by no more than a mere diminutive index finger not even the size of the monstrous being's pinkie.

"Grandfather Happosai!" The young woman exclaimed, eyeing the tiny elderly man with utter surprised evident on her countenance.

The call of her occasional molester made Ranma snap her eyes open in amazement to see the usual perverted, self-centred old man effortlessly blocking a blow that would've took her face off with one finger, "It's the freak!"

"Ranma, you better leave this one to me!" He advised with a cocky smirk on his face that distinctly made the being's eyes flash red with great anger. The unnaturally short old man wore a purple Gi, complete with pants, had barely any hair save for the string of hair that went around his head and his pencil-moustache and black shoes.

Before Ranma could get her debrief of such a thing happening the creature in her front let out a decidedly loud snarl with his head thrown upwards, before throwing another punch at Happosai who deflected it away with a pipe he pulled out of his Gi.

"You need to learn some manners, whippersnapper," Happosai said, springing to the being's height with an unnatural leap, casually flicking the being to the side directly opposite from the gaping blue haired beauty, "Ha! How did ya like that one fella?" He petulantly boasted.

"I don't believe it! Grandfather Happosai's actually helping Ranma!" The blue haired young woman shockingly exclaimed, almost cringing when the elderly man flicked the demonic-being away as if he was a mere pebble, his massive weight shattering the concrete he thwacked unforgivingly off.

"Gee. Ain't there a first time for everything?" Ranma said dryly, squatting down to watch the fight between the tiny old man and huge demon in bored annoyance, "Big deal, anyway. I coulda dealt Big O' demon on my own."

The schoolgirl sighed, "And that's why you lost. Quit being so prideful, Ranma, and just accept that he's really tough."

Ranma glared, "Well next time remind me not ta attempt ta save ya, ya stupid tomboy!" She retorted petulantly, and in a distinguishable Brooklyn accent.

The so-called "tomboy" felt her body twitch out of instinctive reflex and her anger spiked from the given unwanted moniker, "I didn't even ask you, jerk!"

"Well dat's all swell and good then!" Ranma said mockingly, "Won't even bother next time."

"Fine! I didn't need your help anyway!"

The two were interrupted by the massive demon's form tumbling past the blue haired young woman, rupturing the ground in the process.

"Kyaaa!"

"Old freak?" Ranma asked blankly, disregarding her best friend's scream entirely to take in Happosai's exceedingly prideful expression.

"Hehe! And now was the finisher!" Happosai exclaimed cheerily, spinning on his heels while holding his fist to his side as if he was about to pull out one of his signature bombs, only instead of a detonating device his entire fist was encased by a darkish purple aura that left Ranma in amazement.

"How the heck's he doing that?" The red-haired beauty gaped, wondering if with any luck she could duplicate that specific technique was a boast in not only striking power, but also endurance via using the peculiar aura to cover her body, since her durability had always been her weakest attribute.

"Ha! You're screwed now, ain't-cha fella?" Happosai boasted, leaping sky-high with his little glowing strongly, though when he finally looked at his opponent it suddenly drowned on him that he may taken too long to power up, "Eh?" He asked blankly, dropping to his feet, much to Ranma's confusion. "Where'd that hoodlum go?"

Ranma's eyes dilated in agape as she hastily turned around to regard the demon for herself, horror appearing on her countenance when she discovered the blue haired young woman was also missing, "Shit!" Frantically searching for her friend, it didn't take Ranma long to find her, in the clutches for the demon who was smirking viciously, "Akane!"

Acting on _sheer _instinct alone, Ranma desperately galloped after the strange winged-demon was currently flying at an agonizing pace, "Come back here, demon!" The red-haired young woman demanded, flinging herself at Akane who was wrapped up tightly in the demon's panty hoses, only to miss completely.

Deciding that was enough teasing, the demon propelled itself higher into the sky, easily getting out of Ranma's reach who dropped to her knees in despair.

"No," Ranma voiced.

A powerful tornado fiercely knocked the bangs of Ranma's hair forward, forcing her to look up blankly, "Eh?" She said before being forced to dive out of the way when the demon's body came flying toward her. The ground was cratered in from the force of the demon slamming into it, leaving Ranma and Happosai utterly startled.

"What the hell was that?" Ranma asked, searching for Akane. She felt a twinge of annoyance spotting Akane in the one arm of a cloaked-individual landing soundlessly on his feet as opposed to the severed demonic-like arm he cut off with his sword, "Hey, you! Put Akane right now."

The young man chuckled, eliciting inquisitive expressions from Akane and Ranma at the familiar voice. When he would lift up his head, and open his mouth it would all become clear who he was, even if he looked bizarrely older, "Would it kill you to say please?"

Dilating their eyes, Akane and Ranma couldn't help but voice their unmistakeable surprise at such a bombshell, "Ryoga/Ryoga-kun?!"

Ryoga looked down at the young woman in his arms with a softened gaze and a warm smile on his countenance, "Hi, Akane. How's it going? I take Saotome's been treating you well," He chuckled again.

Akane nodded mutely, feeling her face heat up with different shades of red being held closely by the young man who claimed to be her friend, 'I d-don't get it! Ryoga-kun was only gone for four months. Why does he look so much older than he did before!? Honestly!' Realizing she had yet to answer his previous question she blushed, speaking up shyly, "U-Uh, I'm fine. T-Thanks for asking."

"Good," Ryoga said approvingly.

'No way could pigboy speak to tomboy without stuttering over his words like he's some kinda maestro, something smells fishy,' Ranma eyed the cloaked-individual with a suspicious-gaze, watching the rain fall over his form, 'Sides, if he really was Ryoga, he woulda been P-c-.' Ranma felt like face-palming herself when she felt the words leave her mouth before her brain could catch up, 'Of course! If he was really pigboy, he woulda changed by now. Duh! Dat's totally obvious!'

After all with "Ryoga's" horrendous sense of direction Ranma highly doubted he would've been able to find his find back to Jusenkyo to hop in the Spring of Drowned Boy/Man. Hell, Ranma wasn't expecting Ryoga's arrival for another week or within three days if he was lucky, and she certainly wouldn't have even dreamed of in her worst nightmares he would look like this.

"Who the hell are you?" Ranma demanded curtly, but Ryoga didn't acknowledge her presence.

Akane twirled her head to glare furiously at Ranma, "Quit being so rude to Ryoga-kun!"

Ranma snorted, crossing her arms, "O, please. How dumb do ya think I am huh? I don't believe fer a second that dat guy's actually pigboy! I mean, think 'bout Akane! How likely does it sound fer someone we knew ta randomly turn up lookin' like he's on steroids? 'Bout as likely as us striking jackpot on the lottery."

Akane blinked blankly, finding Ranma's argument very plausible. Feeling their elevation lowering until her feet was touching the ground, Akane timidly looked at the young man who placed her on her own feet, losing her confidence at the shadow that clouded Ryoga's emotions, "Uh, Ryoga-kun?"

"I have nothing to prove to the likes of you," Ryoga said darkly, actually making Ranma shrank on the heels of her feet just from the tone of his voice.

'That settles it! Dis can't be Ryoga, he was never dis scary bee-four!' Ranma internally said in her own accent. Mustering up all the courage she had, Ranma tossed a smirk Ryoga way, "_Heh. _Ya just did, ya fool. Ryoga I knew always wanted to prove himself against me." The young man's eyes sharpened in a deadly manner, making Ranma cringe as she threw her hands around in a frantic fashion, "Okay, okay! It was a joke! Can't ya take a joke-." She shut her trap once Ryoga disappeared as if he was never there to begin with

Blankly blinking her eyes, Ranma scratched her head, "Eh? Where did pigboy go dis time?" Regarding Akane's excessive gawking expression with a confused tilt of her head, Ranma couldn't help but mock her, "Ya know if ya keep yer mouth open like that yer gonna catch fil-."

"_That _Ryoga," Ranma heard Ryoga's voice curtly cut her off with a frustrated edge to his voice. Well, at least his love for Akane hadn't changed, if he was "Ryoga" of course. That aside: Ranma whirled around to face Ryoga, only to end in terrified acknowledgement. He had completely severed the demon's head off of his shoulders without even getting an ounce of blood on his 'sword.' Ranma was just thankful Ryoga was kind enough to slay the demon before it could get close to her, otherwise the fountain of blood that was released from the empty stump would've gotten all over her.

"-Is no longer among us," Ryoga finished coolly, showing no remorse for the being he slayed as he lowered his sword. Ranma and Akane watched in amazement when a green glow of power completely engulfed Ryoga's blade, dispensing to leave a simply caveman-like club in its place.

'A club, dat was nuthin' but a lousy club? What a gip!' Ranma mused in frustration to mask her wariness of the man before her, but no matter what she did just couldn't shake the fear she was feeling. What if she could no longer defeat Ryoga? 'Naw, I can till handle pigboy no problemo-.' She cringed when Ryoga stared at her with a detached expression.

"And don't you forget that."

Forget? How could Ranma forget it?

THIS clearly wasn't the same stupid, easily angered gullible lost-boy she occasionally loved to tease.

And to put it bluntly, Ranma kind of missed him.


	16. DBZ-powered Ryoga's Return Extended

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z or Ranma 1/2**

* * *

><p>A blur of static-lines quickly materialized to reveal Ryoga, holding an unconscious Ranma in his arms, with a gawking Akane intertwining their arms together. Blinking her eyes, the blue haired beauty tried to theorize how they could go from one location to another in the time-span of a mere second, at best.<p>

"I don't believe it," Akane said inaudibly, looking at the front door of her father's home that the Saotomes had also set up stay at with disbelief, "W-We're here. Just like that. I-I honestly don't know what to say."

"Well I suppose you could start off by saying 'thank you'," Ryoga laughed, finding Akane's reaction to his Instantaneous Transmission technique just so innocently amusing.

Turning her head toward Ryoga, Akane quickly looked down to her toes, a couple of bright pink shades of embarrassment adorning her cheeks, "O-oh, right. Thank you for bringing us home. I really appreciate it. And," She deadpanned a look at the redhead in Ryoga's arms, "-I'm sure Ranma will once he wakes up."

Ryoga glanced down at his former rival with a calm smile of serenity, "You could very well be correct in your assumption, since it is you vouching for Saotome. And who else knows him better than his _fiancée_," He stated with an extremely foreign puckish tone completely at odds with the Ryoga of old.

"Oi, you!" Akane jokingly reprimanded the bandana-clad Z-warrior, playfully stomping her foot on the ground with a bright smile, "It was daddy's and Uncle Saotome's idea to marry Ranma and I, not mine." A flimsy excuse made all the more apparent by the awkward actions of Akane rubbing her arm and distinctly avoiding Ryoga's piercing gaze, "I-I'm j-just obligated by daddy's wishes and family-honour to merge the Tendo and Saotome schools together."

Ryoga regarded the shy girl with a cold, unemotional gaze that could've even made the devil itself flinch, but softening it to one of mild neutrality when Akane cringed from his hell-freezing glance.

"Sure. If you say so," Ryoga said, regarding the darkened clouds above their heads.

A part of Ryoga wondered if Akane knew the full implications of the Saotome/Tendo engagement. If the answer turned out that she did, than it'll baffle Ryoga for all eternity why such an independent girl like Akane would be content to sit at home and pump out the next generation of Saotome/Tendo while her "loving husband" nurtures the next production of aspiring martial artists.

As much as Ryoga hated to admit to such, fresh kids with the ambition to be world class fighters will undoubtedly not want to train under what they and most likely their parents believe to be an inferior female-sensei. It didn't help matters much when that female was a million miles behind her significant other.

Of course the "true" meaning behind Akane's weak excuse had nothing to do with carrying on her father's school and merging it with the Tendo's, as much as it pained Ryoga to admit.

"S-Should we, uhm, go in?" Akane indirectly broke Ryoga out of his internal monologue with her tentative question. More so feeling Ryoga's eyes than seeing them on her, Akane offered her saviour a shy smile, before softly laying her hand atop his arm, "-My fair, gallant knight. Hey, you can tell me how you teleported us here!"

Nodding his acceptance, Ryoga turned cool, concentrated eyes to the direction of the door, subtly feeling a microscopic Ki-signature approaching.

"No need," The warrior stated, catching Akane's confused expression outside his peripheral vision, "Your sister's about to open the door."

The creaks of an opening door caught Akane's ears before she could even show Ryoga her amazement. Twirling her head to the door just in time to see it pushed open, Akane was in awe to find that Ryoga's precognition turned out to be true. Standing in the doorway was Akane's overly polite sister - the embodiment of a traditional housewife - Kasumi Tendo.

She looked as exactly as Ryoga remembered her last he had seen her, with her long sulky brown hair styled in a loose, slack ponytail by a white hair-bobble and was hung over her shoulder. Her gentle brown eyes were all the proof a warrior of Ryoga's calibre needed to know she had led a pampered lifestyle, having been closed off from the world.

Kasumi's attire further cemented Ryoga's evaluation of the demure lady, being that they consisted of a short-sleeved white blouse underneath a long modest baby-blue dress, covered by a white apron.

She even had on white slippers, hinting that she rarely left home.

"My, welcome back, little sister," The maidenly sibling greeted the younger one with a distinguishable polite tone in her voice and a cheery smile on her face, though it did lessen somewhat when she found her future brother-in-law in the arms of a rather handsome individual, "And you brought company. Oh dear, Ranma-chan looks like she had an… unpleasant experience. It was really nice of you to bring her back… uhm," Looking concerned, Kasumi meekly clarified, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know your name sir."

Of all the ways a young man who Kasumi was "unfamiliar" with could've responded, chuckling heartily certainly wasn't one of them, 'I know it's to be expected considering how much time has passed here in comparison to Goku's world, but damn it, I would be lying if I said these reactions to my older appearance weren't hilarious as all hell. Hahahaha!'

Kasumi was just happy that she had made someone laugh, even if she didn't "know him" per say, "My, it's nice to see you in such high spirits, sir!" Kasumi smiled brightly, "Now if only I knew your name…"

"But that's the thing though!" Akane excitedly chimed in with a broad smile, "You do know him, Kasumi-oneesama!"

"Oh?" Kasumi said enquiringly, sounding concerned, "I… do?"

"Yep! It's just Ryoga-kun!" Akane supplied exhilaratingly, gigging at the look of surprised recognition that befell Kasumi's countenance. "He came back four years older! Can you believe that?"

Kasumi gasped with her hands shielding her mouth and lit-up pink-coloured cheeks, "Oh my, you're older than me now."

"Sure am. I'm twenty now," Ryoga confirmed with a smile.

"Oh? Why, I wish you happy birthday four times," The eldest Tendo sibling said, cupping her cheek delicately, "I feel kind of silly now. You really have become quite handsome, Ryoga-kun."

"Appreciated," Ryoga coolly accepted Kasumi's compliment.

Glancing at the redhead in Ryoga's arms, Kasumi's smile only brightened, if possible at all, "Oh my, you've been reacquainted with Ranma-chan! How nice! You two were always such good friends!" Ryoga tittered in a fond fashion.

Leave it to Kasumi to see the best in any possible situation no matter how suspect it appeared.

Looking at Akane, it seemed even she shared Ryoga's fond amusement towards Kasumi's infinite kindness, because she let out cute giggles in sync with Ryoga's titters. When they had realized they had laughed simultaneously, they both leaned into each other, laughing away like a couple of old friends reminiscing over the good old days.

"You never fail to provide, Kasumi-san!" Ryoga joked, knowing someone could either interpret his joke positively or negatively. On the positive side of the fence he could be saying Kasumi contained a myriad of wisdom, but on the negative side he might have just called her a clown, therefore discreetly ridiculing her.

Since this was Kasumi who he had told this to, she perceived Ryoga's joke in a positive light, merely smiling at the humorous young man with her hands clasped above her waist, "My, you're so funny, Ryoga-kun!" She complimented, earning herself a smirk from Ryoga, "Well, you'd better come in. You're getting soaked! I'll retrieve the hot water from the stove for Ranma-chan."

"Thanks, oneesama!" Akane said with a perkiness clearly inherited from her father.

"That's okay, dear. I have a certain fondness to be of assistance to those closest to me," Kasumi explained calmly. Nodding slowly, Kasumi cheerfully trotted back into the house to carry out her dutiful endeavour, completely missing the look of admiration on her little sister's face.

'Kasumi-oneesama makes housekeeping look easy, gosh!' Akane looked crestfallen when she recalled her own attempts to be a proficient modern housewife had fallen flat on their faces, 'I-I wish I had that kind of talent, but that stupid, insensitive jerk Ranma won't even try my cooking.'

"Shall we?" Ryoga asked, getting a blank expression from Akane before it slowly morphed into a happy smile. Despite Ryoga becoming back four years older, he still had the fundamental core of his polite personality. Maybe that was why she had always liked him.

"Of course, Ryoga-kun," Akane agreed almost dreamily, seeing the nod from Ryoga and taking it as her cue to lead him into the Tendo residence. 'Even if that jerk Ranma doesn't like my cooking I know someone who will,' She smiled, 'And he's more of a gentleman than Ranma ever will be.'

XxX

**Chapter Two**

The

Untouchable

One

XxX

Once they had stepped foot into the Dojo, Ryoga closed the door while watching Akane neatly slip off her shoes, then turning toward him with a kind smile.

"Would you like to take off your shoes?" Akane asked politely.

Ryoga mumbled his lips as if he was weighting the positives and negatives such an action warranted, "Sure," He said, kicking off his own shoes in an ungraceful fashion. He then made up for his mistake by lining up his shoes next to Akane's much smaller ones, "All done."

Akane nodded, once again comparing Ryoga's actions to Ranma's, 'Ranma wouldn't have done that.' No, he would have just thrown his shoes off carelessly, relying on Kasumi to line them up properly. He was just too inconsiderate.

"Thanks, I'm sure Kasumi-oneesama will be happy," Akane insisted, receiving a nod from Ryoga.

"I'm sure," Ryoga said in agreement.

Getting a timid gesture from Akane to follow her, Ryoga did so, moving past the stairwell that led to the rooms which were preoccupied by the residents. Too many times had Ryoga been up there in his piglet form.

He just needed his fix. But now, those days were behind him.

P-chan was dead.

It didn't take long for Akane and Ryoga to reach the others. Really, the hallway of the Tendo-Dojo was actually very small, only leading one way, so even someone like Ryoga couldn't get lost. Though with his faulty sense of direction he could look blankly at a wall, believe he had come the wrong way, and take a complete U-turn back the way he came instead of looking in the direction he should've taken.

Akane's eyes lit up at the sight of a sunburned-man facing a fairly huge black and white panda. His black hair was long and fell to his back, he had a matching small black moustache, and his outfit comprised of a grey long-sleeved karate-styled Gi-top, held closed by a black sash, and grey pants. Since he was in the comfort of his own home it was self-explanatory why he was barefoot.

"Papa!" Akane called out perkily, getting her father's attention who was in the middle of an intense shogi game with the panda.

Due to his favourite daughter's cheer, the patriarch of the Tendo Dojo made one crucial mistake he would rue for many days to come; he took his intense, concentrated stare off of the shogi board, missing the gleam of a masterful opportunist occurring in the panda's eye.

"Akane-chan?" He would blankly call out to her just as the panda would sneakily rotate the board in a complete full turn so fast only Ryoga foresaw his movements clearly.

Practically being body-checked by his baby girl, he sheepishly, yet willing patted his daughter on her back, "Yes, dear. Daddy's overjoyed to see you too, but he's in the middle of an important game with Saotome now."

Briefing locking eyes with the troublesome irises of the panda, Tendo noted him concealing a smirk with a quick well-placed poker-face, 'Hm. I say, Saotome's acting rather… suspect. I wonder, has he mayb-.'

"I think she's looking to be consoled, Tendo-san," Before Soun Tendo could make a quick observation of the Shogi board, a familiar polite tone reached his ears, making him look up to find a cloaked-young man carrying his son-in-law to-be.

"Ah. I take it this nice fellow you brought home is Ryoga-kun," Soun said happily, wrapping his daughter up in both of his arms when he could feel her noticeably shake.

Receiving a nod from the cloaked-young man he went on to clarify how he knew of his identity before he could even reveal it to him, "I vaguely remember Kasumi-dear informing me of your arrival when she passed through. I-." He felt intimidated when he took in Ryoga's now massive built, "-S-See y-you've growth massively on your journey, lad. Well done. Yes."

Now unambiguously curious at his old friend's nervous-given compliment to a young man he referred to as his son's frenemy, Genma Saotome ended up spinning around to take in Ryoga's appearance for himself.

"…"

…Needless to say Genma felt as if he was looking up at a herculean giant. His shoulders and pecks were so broad now, the cloak could barely conceal their size. Truth be told, it made Genma a little envious. Little envious as in he could keep the majority if he could hand Genma that luscious crop of black hair on his head.

*Sigh.* What Genma wouldn't do for a full head of hair.

Giving Ryoga a really pronounced bug-eyed look, Genma miraculously materialized a wooden sign with his Ki, with a simplistic compliment engraved on the sign. *Some growth spurt.* Clearly, the sign wasn't the only thing that came right out of Genma's rear end.

"Thanks," Ryoga gave them a smirk of jocularity. With a twirl of his heels, Ryoga faced the wall, bending down on one knee to perch the unconscious redhead up against the wall, serenity evident on his countenance, 'Heh. I finally beat you, eh Saotome?'

"Although I would have been lying had I said I didn't find your growth spurt odd, lad," Soun said blandly, scratching the top of his head, "I wasn't aware there were magic mushrooms with the odd power to accelerate growth instead of regressing it."

Genma cocked his head backward in an attempt to observe his sleeping child. Flipping around his sign in a blurring way, Genma made his question known. *What happened to the boy?*

Standing up to his full height, Ryoga removed his huge shadow from Ranma's petite frame by stepping to the side to give Genma a full view of his son-turned-daughter. Removing any lingering truces of mirth from his visage, Ryoga flatly filled Genma in on the blanks, "I knocked him out."

Vacantly blinking their eyes, Soun and Genma showed each other their inscrutable faces, before glancing back to the expressionless Ryoga.

"I say, is that so, lad?" It was clearly Soun who had voiced his and Genma's question.

"Yes," Ryoga confirmed, not going out of his stoic-exterior, "I believe him being asleep is all the proof I need, wouldn't you think?"

They would. What really sold the factuality of Ryoga's self-proclaimed victory over Ranma was his complete dead-serious expression. See – they were under the belief that they could discern just about every lie(s) from anyone. It really was a simple trick and something neither Genma nor Soun would brag about. When someone tells a fib, they could usually decipher the cock-and-bull elements of it via the offender's facial expression.

Had Ryoga been lying, he would've been a laughing mess.

"I say, that's quite the achievement." Soun complimented with a smile.

Genma nodded in pride of Ryoga's attainment since it just meant his son had another mountain of an obstacle to overcome. He held up a sign to depict his agreement with Tendo, *Yes, I agree.* Crossing his arms after throwing away his sign, Genma closed his eyes, trying to give off the illusion of a sagacious aura. When he was able to gather his words, he held up another wooden sign.

*It had always been my credence that the harmless, light-hearted sport you and my boy daily partook in would push the pair of you slackers to new, unimaginable heights.* Flipping his sign around, he continued with some awkward sweat on his panda-face. *U-Uh. Of course that till applies even if you had gained most of your new strength from your own journey. It just means I'll have to up my boy's training to make up for the gap you've put between the two of you!*

"Sure, sure; you can if you want." Ryoga said in a disinterested manner, catching movement out of the corner of his eyes. Casually spinning his head, Ryoga would notice Akane's other older sister, the middle daughter of Soun Tendo, crossing her arms and wearing a tight black leotard to blatantly flex her luscious limps and curvaceous body.

"Don't mind me, I'm just enjoying the show," The leotard-clad young woman with a crop of short light chocolate brown hair that fell to her shoulders smirked skittishly at Ryoga.

Ryoga calmly took his eyes off of the middle Tendo, closing them afterward in nonchalant reflection, 'Nabiki.'

"Why lad, I must say, you're being remarkably humble and sportsmanlike in the aftermath of your defeat of Ranma. I find such an approach rather endearing. I must commend it," Soun smiled, turning to Genma, "Wouldn't you agree Saotome?"

Genma feverishly held up a sign with a nod of his head, *Yes, the boy's showing an admirable level of maturity.*

Ryoga shook his head with an ironic smile on his face. He was a grown man now and Genma till had the audacity to call him "boy." _Heh. _Such a moniker was almost enough to make him laugh, but in a good, positive way, the kind of way that signified Genma had made a funny joke.

"Daddy," Akane hazily whimpered in her father's arms.

"Oh Akane-dear," Soun blinked, looking down into the tearful expression of his daughter. He instantly became worried, "What's the matter, dear? Did Saotome promise Ranma-kun's hand to another fellow's daughter?" He sent a commanding gaze at a now nervous panda.

*Who? What? Where?* His sign read as he speedily moved his head in many directions so fast he ended up creating multiple afterimages.

Before Soun could lambaste Genma's 'recklessness,' Akane's wail forced him into a different course of action, "I was so scared, daddy!"

Fluttering his eyes in incomprehension, Genma watched Soun gently massage his future daughter-in-law's back and offer her some soothing words, "Oh, Akane. It's going to be okay. After all, don't all our problems resolve themselves in the end?!" Soun asked with excessive cheerfulness, "I'm sure Saotome didn't intend to p-."

"An asinine love triangle isn't what has her so upset," Ryoga said, choosing to speak up for the distraught Akane. He signed with slight annoyance as everyone with the exception of Akane turned inquisitive expressions to him, "She was almost kidnapped today."

The reactions to Ryoga's statement varied to two sides. Genma and Soun paled considerably, looking as white as a pair of ghosts, and Nabiki just droned as if she merely filed the information away for later with an impressive poker-face.

"What?" Soun gasped audibly, delicately grasping Akane's shoulders. Feeling her father's gestures, Akane took that as her cue to raise her head up, almost breaking Soun's heart. Her eyes were completely misted by tears, "Akane-dear, is this true?"

Nodding timidly, Akane struggled to hold in her tears, "Y-Yes, daddy. If it hadn't of been for Ryoga-kun, a monster would've taken me away to who knows w-where." Her voice was breaking.

"Oh Akane!" Soun wailed, clutching his sobbing daughter for dear life.

Something in Akane's admittance struck Genma's interpretation at odd. Holding up a sign Genma probed into the matter, *What does she mean by "if it hadn't of been for Ryoga"? What about the boy? Wasn't he with her?*

Ryoga would be spared the slight exertion of straight-up telling Genma that his son was simply outmatched by the demon who had attempted to take Akane, "I think it's pretty clear that "monster" was too much for even "little _miss _Saotome" to handle, Uncle." Nabiki did so with a sneer, making Genma hang his head with a raised sign.

*Oh the shame.*

Hearing the jaunty tune of the eldest sister, Ryoga calmly turned his head, in turn making Nabiki do so also, both spotting Kasumi sauntering toward them with a kettle of warm water held in her grip.

"Good eye." Nabiki quipped with a smirk.

"Thanks," Ryoga mumbled.

"Here we go, Uncle." Kasumi said softly, pouring an ounce of warm water over the panda.

"~Ah! Much better," Genma said contently. The factuality of Genma returning to his human-form with his clothes still attached to his body had always annoyed Ryoga. It just didn't seem fair. Every time either himself, Shampoo, or Mousse was splashed with cold water they always lost their clothes.

Though Ryoga proposed that could partially be explained to the height and size of Genma's cursed form in comparison to his human form. Unlike the ones who couldn't keep their clothes on when they changed into animals, Genma's panda form was actually bigger than his human form, not smaller.

Dumping the remaining hot water on Ranma's head, Kasumi was pleased to see the redhead-quickly-turned-black-haired youth visibly reacting to the warm liquid, "Ah. You're awake now. That's nice." Kasumi said melodically, watching Ranma place his hand to his temple.

"Aw, man. What the heck happened? Feel like the darn lights just sorta turned off," Ranma said in annoyance.

"Seems like little Saotome doesn't want to accept his loss to Hibiki," Nabiki sneered, putting a blank expression on Ranma's face before he turned to regard her, only to end up gasping at the sight of Ryoga, "How surprising."

"Oh right," Ranma said in recognition, leaping up to his feet with a smirk on his face, "We till gotta have our fight. Whaddya say, tough guy?" He had to save face somehow, or in this case it would be more appropriate to say he needed to regain his lost face. His ego was bruised, and he needed it mended, but the only way he could do that was to beat the one who had humbled him in the first place.

Ryoga snorted, "You mean the fight we already had? The one I won with one well-placed stroke to your neck?" His calm retort made Ranma scowl, "Sure. If you're pining for another beat down so bad I'll be happy to oblige."

"S-Shut u-up!" Ranma yelled with a scarce tremble in his voice eliciting a glare from Akane for his troubles, "I'm telling ya dat wasn't a real fight! Dat was ya using the element of surprise ta yer advantage!" He lamely smirked in a feeble attempt to emanate confidence, tremblingly wiping the bridge of his nose with his thumb, "_H-Heh. _T-The w-way I see it, now dat I'm prepared I'll be sending your ass packing on another one of your wacky ageing journeys, pal."

"Grr," Genma growled lowly, effortlessly catching Ranma's attention as he rose up to a standing position. "Stupid boy!" He yelled, throwing a heavy left-hook into Ranma's face, sending the black-haired youth crashing into the wall with so much force it cracked under the impact of which Ranma smacked into it.

"Whatcha do that for?" Ranma furiously whined, but Genma only stood over him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, blasting him into the face with another left-jab.

"Foolish boy! Haven't I taught you humility? A true martial artist honourably accepts defeat even at the hands of a rival but in return strives to close the lofty gap between themselves and their rivals!" Genma lectured with an honourable air hanging over him.

Grabbing his dad's Gi-top, Ranma dirtily and savagely pulled him down into a head-butt of ferocity, making him stagger back. The rebellious youth took the opportunity to skilfully leap up, glaring mightily at his father, "O, yeah. Ya taught me alright. Taught me how ta sell off your own son fer a free meal, ya darn cheapskate."

Genma pouted with disdain and crossed arms, turning his head away from Ranma, "Even aspiring martial artists needs nutrition." Feeling a sharp blow impact into his kidney, Genma was unable to bear the force of it and consequently plummeted to the ground.

"Aw, stuff your flimsy excuses, old man!"

Pushing himself up with his hands, Genma wiped the saliva from the edge of his lips, "Seems I'll have to beat this lesson into that thick-skull of yours, boy," Bouncing speedily up to his feet regardless of his size, Genma sent a haymaker of an uppercut skywards on course for Ranma's chin. In retaliation to his father's attack, Ranma stiffened his stance, catching Genma's blow in a double-handed clap between his forearms.

"_Heh. _I'd love ta see ya try, pop!" Lifting up his leg for his signature afterimage-inducing snap-kicks, Ranma glowered in exasperation when his father deflected it off course with a simple raised knee.

"You'll have to try better than that if you want to beat your old man, BOY!" Genma boasted, increasing Ranma's scowl before it turned into his trademark smirk. What ensued was what the father/son duo's fellow residents had come to know as their traditional father/son ritual, which quickly ended up outside, much to Soun's relief.

Luckily for the water-prone fighters, the heavens had been kind enough to stop the rain flow so they were free to spar without getting forcibly changed.

"Well, there they go, at it again," Soun sighed with a nonchalance air, far too used to this to be surprised anymore. Feeling his daughter leave his arms, he perked up, "Oh Akane-dear! I take it you're feeling better now?" He asked hopefully, though the way her delicate face was crinkled up in a lour expression showed she was far from "okay."

"I don't believe this! He gets up, and the first thing he does is start trouble! Honestly!" Akane whined, "No wonder my baby P-chan hasn't come back!"

Ignoring her sister, Nabiki slid up to the side of an unresponsive Ryoga, "So why haven't you changed yet?" Nabiki asked inquisitively, earning herself the same cold stare from Ryoga, "C'mon, you can feel free to tell me. I won't "tell" anyone," She whispered with equal amounts of feigned conviviality and mock-innocence in her voice.

Swivelling back around to monitor the brawl between father and son in bored indifference, Ryoga's answer to Nabiki would be a question of his own, "Why haven't I changed if I'm drenched from head to toe?" It wasn't a lie or even the total truth. It was just discreetly giving Nabiki the answer _he _chose to give her without actually giving her the answer _she _wanted to hear, sort of like an innuendo.

"Oh touché!" Nabiki mockingly applauded, folding her arms underneath her perky breasts, before coolly leaning her frame up against the wall. Presently, Ryoga was curse-free. She needed to know how so she could sell the "method of removal" to the unfortunates who were still cursed.

"But you know as well as I do, it's only a matter of time till I get my hands on that profitable information," She shrugged casually to disguise the warning as a suggestion. "It would be in your best interest to fork over the invaluable documentation in full detail ASAP, lest certain… ahem." The brown-haired crafty young woman coughed indistinctly, "-Secrets come to light."

Ryoga continued to gaze dispassionately at Genma and Ranma, paying absolutely no heed to Nabiki's sickly sweet smile. At first she thought he was merely trying to desperately and pitifully cover-up his jittery emotions, since it _was _still Ryoga (Mr Gullible), but the longer Nabiki stared at Ryoga with her patented sneer firmly glued to her face the more she began to wonder was the unflinching Ryoga even taking her seriously.

That little startling revelation made Nabiki recoil with barely suppressed annoyance. If there was one thing Nabiki Tendo hated, it was a wannabe hotshot not taking her threats seriously. No one did that in fear that she'd make their lives one-big misery. One could just ask Ranma for certitude.

The poor boy's afraid to even breathe around Nabiki!

Nabiki would use the dirt she had against them to torment them, and if she didn't have that than she would simply snoop around like a detective to dig up some dirt.

"You know, I thought it would be beneficial for you to know that I have a few incriminate photos stashed securely of a certain little piglet changing into a-."

"Blackmail will get you nowhere, _Tendo,_" Ryoga coldly cut off Nabiki's casual declaration, rotating his head to just gaze at Nabiki's empty countenance. The money-grubber was lost for words at such an apathetic resistance.

She shook her head, trying to regain her lost composure, "I'm sorry, but correct me if I'm wrong, but did I just hear you turning down my offer, Hibiki?" Ryoga could sense the rage slowly beginning to boil inside of Nabiki; she clearly wasn't used to her targets displaying anything remotely resembling defiance. "You know, that's going to cost ya. I'll just append an additional payment of twenty percent onto your protection fee."

Nabiki had expected Ryoga to do one of many things, such as, stutter helplessly, beg her to lower the increased bill, or hang his head in defeat. What she didn't expect him to do, however, was just revolve his head back to the fight between Genma and Ranma like he had done so the first time around.

Now Nabiki was truly miffed.

"You do that then. It'll be interesting to see where you'll get the money from."

"I believe that's self-explanatory, don't you Hibiki?" Nabiki almost chuckled.

"I don't."

"Then I guess little sis will be receiving new photos to add to her photo album of her precious little piglet. Won't that make her happy?" Nabiki said sarcastically, a mischievous grin on her face as she whirled to face Akane and Soun. Miraculously, the two had been so engaged in the brawl between Genma and Ranma they hadn't even noticed the heated debate going on between Ryoga and Nabiki.

"If you wish to blackmail me," Ryoga started calmly, (like the thunderstorms waiting in the shadows) waiting patiently until Nabiki brought her head back to him before he rose his hand up, though the young woman did so in a slow, satisfied manner, as if relishing the taste of victory on her tongue. Not even Ryoga gripping a handle poking out of the top of his cloak could damper Nabiki's self-assurance.

"…Then I will have to assassinate you."

"…"

"…"

"…"

…That was, more than proficient to knock Nabiki straight off of her comfort horse. Her eyes quickly dilated with horror, her previously crossed arms falling limply to her sides.

"No," Nabiki frantically denied, shaking her head as she tried to lull the consternation building up inside of her heart. "You're kidding," She forced out an indistinct chuckle, forcing herself to believe this was all just an unfunny joke on Ryoga's part. "Very funny, Hibiki," Nabiki sarcastically said, "You almost had me. But you forget I'm not your little play buddy, Saotome. I won't easily be swayed by your petty threats."

She almost squeaked when Ryoga flashed in front of her, moving his head to hers, "If you think I'm here to play games like I used to do back when I was younger, then you're sadly mistaken… little girl." His voice – so close to her face – echoed in her ear with undying intimidation, sending a shiver up her spine, "Consider this next time you have the gall to brush off my threat as something a misguided kid would spout. How do you think I stopped the 'monster' who tried to kidnap your sister, huh?"

The implications of the air-quotes around the word 'monster' and the rhetorical question in of itself had Nabiki gasping for air, "You killed… 'it'?"

"You're partially right." Ryoga said approvingly, though the sheer ghostly smile he had on his face had Nabiki alarmed, "That 'it' you inquired about however, was, according to Akane and Saotome, an unfortunate victim of Jusenkyo, who just happened to be a victim of my wrath. No pun intended," He chucked in dark amusement.

This was something he had inherited from one of his teachers, as Goku wasn't the only one. According to the ruthless one – he believed Ryoga needed some level of cold-hearted realization to balance out 'Kakarot's' tree-hugging idealism. The result was a man who would stop at nothing to maintain the peace in the world, even if it meant getting his hands dirty.

To Ryoga, aka the Dark Hero of justice, it was just par for the course.

"I expected as much from your insinuation," Nabiki scowled to mask her fear. She had always believed she was cold, willing to sell out her own family to make a quick buck for herself, but she could never kill another human being and actually be somewhat proud of her heinous deed, 'And people often call me the "ice queen".'

Nabiki was noticeably relieved when Ryoga withdrew his head from hers.

"So now that we're clear, you _won't _be blackmailing _me_. Am I correct in my deduction? _Please_, correct me if I'm wrong."

_Ouch. _He actually sarcastically quoted Nabiki's previous words. Way to add insult to injury, but unfortunately for Nabiki, she could only nod mutely, too afraid to oppose the murderous young man.

* * *

><p><span>Ryoga's abilities<span>

Weaponry Manipulation**: Sending his Ki into his signature club, Ryoga can change its shape and size to that of any melee weapon he sees fit.**

Flight**: ****Using his Ki to push himself off of the ground and levirate into the sky, Ryoga can send himself off flying in any given directions he desires.**

Instantaneous Transmission**: Having ironically inherited this technique from a different source, Ryoga is able to teleport himself and anyone who happens to have contact on his person across the galaxy in the friction of a mere second, or arguably less, so-long as he stays concentrated. If he happens to lose focus, then it's anyone's guess where he could end up.**


	17. Naruko in Bleach

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach**

* * *

><p><em>Oh Sasuke<em>.

Never in her life had she wanted to take her light hands, place them securely around his pretty neck and strangle the ever loving crap out of the last solitary Uchiha…

…Okay, she might have exaggerated that last part but one could get the picture. She was furious at him and at the very least wanted to clock him in his face. After that, and most prominently - might she add - she would drag him back to Konoha kicking-and-screaming if she had to, before hand-presenting him to Sakura, because Naruko Uzumaki _never_ forsakes a promise to a friend.

That was just the kind of girl she was.

…Now she only had to find a way back to Konoha. Never mind returning to Konoha, she first had to find a way of returning to the Elemental Nations within her own time period!

It had just been one big mishap after the next since that ill-fated clash of malevolent powers she had with Sasuke at the Valley of the end. It was just fortunate for her the people inhabiting the City vacant of anything _even _scarcely resembling Chakra – Karakura Town – spoke her native tongue.

Despite the city being relatively peaceful it still didn't come without its fair share of distinguishable flaws. Like, take the ghostly, heartless white-masked creatures stalking around to eat those precious to them for instance. Fortunately, their overall strength was so piss-poor Naruko didn't even have to try enhancing her striking power like her illegitimate grandmother showed her back home to take them out.

She wouldn't have even known those soul-eating creatures of the night (and even day) had it not been for Isshin Kurosaki, who – coincidently enough – had been passing through the neighbourhood to pick up his cute little daughters from play scheme when he stumbled upon the scene of Naruko effortlessly deposing of a hollow as if it was child's play.

After receiving a surprising thorough and well thought out interpretation from a mostly goofy, light-hearted man Naruko was offered a place to stay with him and his family after she had sort of conceded her unfamiliarity with the town.

She attempted to politely decline Isshin's offer, not wanting to intrude on the Kurosaki-family's lives, but Isshin adamantly insisted she do so, bringing up his girls' need for a strong, womanly role model to seal the deal with a cheeky wink and a trusty, winning thumbs-up.

It wasn't particularly difficult to see through Isshin's hidden agenda.

After all, what father would want to have "the talk" with his daughters?

Not Isshin that was for sure.

XxX

(Years Later, Kurosaki residence – With Naruko)

XxX

Snoring the morning ungracefully away with one arm and leg each sticking out of her out of position orange quilt, Naruko moaned unhappily, turning over onto her stomach when the door to her and her illegitimate sisters' shared room cracked open, giving way for tiny feet coming her way.

"Onee-sama," A tender, girly voice reached the blond's ears, followed by a pair of tiny, smooth hands nudging her shoulder, "Come on. If you don't get up, onii-sama will leave without you."

With a nonchalant sigh Naruko removed her forehead from her pillow, giving one of her twin messy ponytails a good scratch, "Okay, Yuzu-chan. I'm getting up now. Thanks."

The small, petite girl with a huge admiration for her biological older brother and unrelated elder sister smiled helpfully, "Would you like me to comb your hair?" Yuzu adored her sister's long pretty, unnaturally bright blond hair. Sure it was unordinary to see a Japanese civilian with blond hair, but Yuzu thought that just made Naruko unique in her own way.

"Sure, if you don't mind," Naruko said, facing Yuzu in a leg-crossed position with her hands held on her feet. Naruko's bland, blatantly unwomanly pyjamas consisted of a purple buttoned up, loose-fitting shirt, which was matched by purple pants.

"I don't mind."

"Heh. Then comb away, kiddo."

With a hum, Yuzu fetched the purple brush that was located over to the far wall in a drawer of a brown desk before making her way over to Naruko's single bed, which was in the middle of Yuzu's and Karin's. Beside the beds, were three brown cabinets with three drawers that Naruko herself had brought for the three of them.

Crawling over to her sister's back after climbing onto her bed, Yuzu rose up on her knees, swinging her arms around Naruko's neck in her routinely hug.

"Aww, aren't you just the sweetest little thing?" Naruko said, affectionately stating such instead of asking, eliciting a blush from the humble girl on her back.

Taking one of Naruko's ponytails in her hand, Yuzu gently held it out with a doting gaze, carefully running the brush down the long strand of hair.

"Onee-sama?"

"What's up, sweetie?"

"When are you and onii-sama gonna get married?"

Naru grinned teasingly. The girls had taken to teasing their older brother due to his very obvious crush on Naruko. Yuzu was the first one to spot the signals. Back then, they weren't so obvious, but they were still blatant enough that little Yuzu was able to spot them with a perceptive eye.

She had come to notice her brother's eyes would remain honed on Naruko longer than anyone else when he was positive the girl wasn't looking.

Once she informed her sister of Ichigo's stares, the saucy blond had taken to teasing the tangerine-haired youth relentlessly.

Blushing Ichigo was just so cute in Naruko's opinion.

"Dunno, sis."

"Aw."

Pouting Yuzu was also just as adorable actually, now that she thought about it.

"But why, onee-sama?"

"Hey, I never actually said we wouldn't though."

Yuzu's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

Naruko grinned.

"Really."

A Tigress in the Future

**C**

**H**

**A**

**P**

**T**

**E**

**R**

**ONE**

A Predatory's Prey

XxX

(Elsewhere)

The orange head of one Ichigo Kurosaki shot up from a white pillow, cheeks lit up with a pair of red embarrassed blushes.

"_That_ damned dream again," He groused with a shudder, though he wasn't sure whether it was from fear or lust until his private parts hardened, "_Gah._ Just at a time when my rampaging hormones are going crazy, beautiful," His gruff tone leaked sarcasm as he ran a hand through his spiky mop of orange hair, hair that would've gotten him teased for illustrating a delinquent if it wasn't for his adoptive sister.

No one wanted to mess with her.

No one wanted to mess with him either nowadays now that he thought about it.

"Well I better get up, otherwise she'll just-." His eyes widened when multiple knocks resonated from his door, 'Crap! She's come to wake me up!' Wildly throwing his blanket aside, revealing his bare legs and chest as he slept in only his boxes, Ichigo sprung up to his feet, "Just a minute!"

Why he didn't bother sleeping in his pyjamas might've been beyond him if he wasn't so exhausted from his shift last night. Sure, it would've saved him from the predatory stares and leering remarks of one blond, but when he was tired, he didn't want to do anything other than pass out. Well, beside from throwing off his clothes of course...

Though as Ichigo ran to his closet to grab a shirt to put on his person, he found the wind forcefully knocked out of his sails by a forceful blow that knocked him to the ground.

"Ugh!"

"Your reflexes are slowing my boy!" When an ecstatic voice resonated into Ichigo's ear, a scowl formed on his face. Throwing the shirt off of his head, Ichigo glared up at the broad-shouldered figure of his father, Isshin Kurosaki. Clearly, the tall teen had inherited his hairstyle from his father's own spiky hair, though the colouring of his hair came from his other parent whom was no longer with them as Isshin's hair was black. Side burns and stubble situated the sides of his cheekbones and chin respectively, giving him the illustration of a middle aged man.

As for his garbs, they consisted of an orange collared dress shirt underneath a long white lab coat. Black pants and a pair of sandals finished off his appearance.

"Damn it goat-face!" Ichigo said, leaping up to butt heads with his father, "Where did your tendency to attack your own son stem from!?"

"Ha! Such a naïve question!" Isshin said with mock-sagacity, "It should be obvious! To toughen you up of course."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Sure it does," Isshin argued with a cheerful demeanour, "Everything can be used as martial arts, even something as mundane as just taking off your jacket can be converted into the arts. I taught you that lesson years ago."

"No you never! You just reiterated Mr Han's speech to Jaden in the new Karate kid!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing though."

Ichigo grunted in an exasperated manner, "Man! I give up," He whipped his head to his father when he realized something was amiss, "Wait… you knocked, didn't you old man?"

"Well, yeah," Isshin said with a shrug, "That I did, son."

"Why?" Ichigo interrogated him with an air of suspicious hanging over him, sizing up his father in case he was planning anything, "You never knock. You just barge in here and attack like a nutter. What brought on the change in the usual routine of goat-face?"

"Oh, that? Why, my precious third daughter insisted I at least try to give you a heads-up before subjecting you to our daily father-and-son training sessions."

"Seriously?"

"Of course!"

"Yeah, 'cos Naru's the most well-mannered girl you've ever seen," She wasn't necessary a rude-girl, but she wasn't one to regard Ichigo's privacy with civility, given that she could tease him easier by barging into his room to hopefully catch him in the process of getting dressed, "And she's not your third daughter, old man."

"Sure she is!" Isshin chirped, though decided to rephrase his statement at Ichigo's deadpanned stare, "Well she will be when you two get married."

That was all Ichigo could take.

The straw that broke the camel's back.

Running up to his father, Ichigo slammed a Ryu-like roundhouse kick off of his skull, sending him bouncing off of his wall where he ricocheted off it and out of his room.

"Damn, goat-face!" He grumped, turning around to make up his messy bed, "Beating on a dead horse like that!"

Hearing a set of footsteps echoing throughout his room, he groaned.

"Tch. Come back for mo-. Ah!" He blenched at the sight of a towel-clad Naruko standing before him with a smile on her whiskered face, "N-Naruko!" He yelped comically, 'Fuck me!'

"Well hello there, handsome!" She greeted, drawing a cringe from Ichigo. Heh. He made it too easy for her sometimes, "What's this? A morning present for little old me? Aw, you shouldn't have."

"It's not what you think!" Ichigo insisted with a flail of his arms, feeling a blush decorating his cheeks as he realized the towel worked wonders bringing out Naruko's curves, "I mean, u-uh-!"

"Really?" Naruko asked rhetorically, placing an index finger to her chin and her hand on her hip, altering her view from Ichigo's nigh naked form to his half made up bed, "Looks like you were half-way through preparations, if you ask me."

'Damn! Damn! Damn! Why does it seem she's always able to use any half compromising situation to her advantage! Fuck me!' Ichigo mulled, feeling sweat racing down his visage seeing Naruko dawdling forward, swaying her hips, "I-I-I was just making up my bed, I swear down!"

"Aw, you're shy. How cute," She cooed, drawing a wince from Ichigo at the cute compliment as he backed away from her approach. He continued to do so until his back was up against the wall, his predator standing directly in front of him, her leering stare roaming his body, making him all the more nervous, "You don't have to say anymore. K?"

"U-Uh. I don't."

"No," She confirmed saucily, propping a finger on Ichigo's chest which caused a set of tingles to resonate through him, "Daddy dearest and Yuzu-chan told me everything."

"Uh. W-What would that be?" The blush eclipsed Ichigo's face when he found the shorter blond moving her head to his ear, her warm breath on his ear as she probed for clarification.

"Do you really wanna know?"

O, god. That was hot. Ichigo wasn't going to lie - at least not inwardly.

"I-I guess."

Giggling secretively, Naruko teasingly moved her knee in between Ichigo's legs, positively pleased to find she had elicited an reaction from his "boys."

"Ah!" Ichigo almost felt ashamed that he let out the blatant unmanly squeak in the face of a beautiful lady, 'Crap! I will not allow her to get the better of me! I'm manning up now!' He said internally with resolve, channelling his inner masculinity, 'Manning up, manning up, manning up, manning up-.'

"Meh. I changed my mind."

'Manning up,' Ichigo continued to will himself up to endure Naruko's teasing until the girl's previous words caught up to him, "Eh?"

Naruko snickered mischievously. Dumbfounded Ichigo was just so cute.

"Better luck next time sweetie," She said, stroking Ichigo's cheek affectionately, delighted to feel him flinching awkwardly against her palm, "But we got school," Ichigo actually didn't know whether he was relieved or disappointed that she was saucily swaggering out of his room. On one hand, he was free of her relentless teasing, but on the other, the view of her mesmerizing rear end jiggling from side to side in her dancing walk left him conflicted.

In the end, the sweaty, horny teen settled for falling on his rear, moaning in mock-despair.

"Fuck me!"

"Gladly."

"Damn it... I'm girling down."

* * *

><p><strong>Stats<strong>

**Naruko**

**Speed: 5**

**Strength: 5**

**Intelligence: 3**

**Endurance: 4**

**Stamina: 4**

**Taijutsu: 4**

**Ninjutsu 3**

**Total: 28**

* * *

><p><strong>Ichigo <strong>

**Speed: 2:5**

**Strength: 4**

**Endurance: 5**

**Intelligence: 2:5**

**Stamina: 3**

**Swordplay Competence: 1**

**Moveset: 1**

**Total: 18**


	18. Naruko in Bleach extended

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach**

* * *

><p>Naruko trudged miserably down the stairs of the Kurosaki's home wearing the school uniform she just dreaded to wear. Wearing this one the first time she entered high school gave her a better appreciation for middle school. At least in that school it wasn't obligatory for females to don on sexualizing uniforms.<p>

Na. They were free to sport whatever gear they thought was best to illustrate their personalities.

Naruko's best hope was finding a way back to Konoha before she graduated from high school. She understood perfectly well why it was required for students to wear uniforms once they reached high school, as it was meant to prepare them for work in the long haul, but damn, did the girl's uniform have to consist of skirts?

Couldn't they also wear trousers like guys?

That would be so much better in Naruko's opinion.

She could never understand why her fellow kunoichi in Ino and Sakura preferred to dress as girlish as they did. To her, it just made her feel restricted, especially given her fighting style consisted of her leaping from tree branch to branch in an emulation of a primate.

Skirts, dresses, and frilly bras didn't cut it for her, which was why she had on a sport's bra of her favourite colour, orange underneath her clothes.

Still, she had to fight the unbearable temptation to just rip off her skirt and throw on a pair of three quarter blue jeans, shifting herself back into her comfort zone. God forbid she couldn't return to Konoha, then she would've no choice but to accept the unbearable dress code of the future.

She would've to ingrate herself completely with this time's society.

Considering she had aged three years within this time period already, that was becoming a fast possibility with each passing day, she feared.

Though admittedly it wasn't as bad as she thought it was.

For one reason only…

"Hello, onee-sama."

"What's up, sis?"

…The benevolence of the Kurosaki-family.

"Morning you two," Naruko returned with a smile at her two unrelated little sisters.

Since Karin and Yuzu were fraternal twins, it was only natural to expect Karin was the yin to Yuzu's yang, being the outgoing tomboy in stark contrast to Yuzu's indoors maidenly girl demeanour. Even their hair was polar opposite from each other.

While Karin took after her dad, Yuzu clearly inherited her mom's hair colour, to a certain extent anyway. Karin had longish black shoulder-length hair to match her dark eyes that accentuated the calm nonchalance on her face.

Sharing her elder sister's tomboyish nature, Karin wasn't interested in wearing any girly dresses like her twin did, so she chose to flex a red shirt, matched by a red cap fitted on her head, a pair of black shorts that reached her knees, and lastly, white socks and black shoes were on her feet.

Yuzu tilted her head to the side in an adorable inquisitive demeanour, "What's wrong, onee-sama? You don't seem like yourself, somehow."

"She's probably just peeved about wearing a skirt," Karin estimated in an offhand manner, drawing a pout from her sister.

"Why would onee-sama be upset about an article of clothing that only accentuates her beauty?" Yuzu enquired in return.

"Hate to break it to ya, little sis, but Karin-chan's hit the nail on the head," Naruko confirmed with an apologetic smile.

"Told ya," Karin passively revelled in the ambience of her victory, drawing another pout from Yuzu.

"Ohh!" Yuzu whined, "But I think onee-sama looks pretty in a skirt. Why wouldn't you want to look pretty?"

"It's not about whether I look pretty or not sis," Naruko chuckled at the girl's bewildered face. For all Yuzu's book smarts, she was still as naïve as a fresh wet-behind-the-ear genin, "I just don't like having a horde of wolves objectifying me with their leering stares."

"'Xactly," Karin agreed, giving Yuzu's face of acknowledgement a deadpanned stare, "That clear things up for ya, sis?"

"Kind of," Yuzu murmured in an embarrassing fashion, choosing to look down as if reinvigorating herself to look up with renewed insistence, "But why can't you and onee-sama just ignore them. I mean, a few stares from a gathering of big dummies can't hurt, can it?"

"Well, no, it's doesn't," Naruko said bluntly, causing Yuzu to inhale in an preparative manner, though the wind was expelled from her sails with Naruko's next torrent of words, "But even if it doesn't Karin-chan and I just don't feel like ourselves in traditional woman dresses and skirts," She shrugged, "We're the kind of girls who feel free as the birds themselves wearing almost male-oriented clothes, clothes that give us free licence on the football field or the training area to really cut loose. Just imagine if we tried scampering in a lengthy dress," She imitated a falling noise, "What a fail that would be."

"That's not even counting the off chance our short skirts flap upwards during our run, giving a bunch of horny idiots a free peek," Karin piled another nail into the coffin to ensure victory, "They may work in tennis, but they sure as heck don't in soccer."

"Okay, I get it," Yuzu said with an acquiescing sigh.

"Don't feel too bad sweetie," Naruko said soothingly, "There's plenty of other girls who like looking pretty. Heck! I could wear a dress depending on how it's designed, and as long as I wear shorts underneath to reserve my decency, I could, but I choose not to," She scratched her cheek with her index finger, "Guess what I'm trying to say is that it ultimately just comes down to personal preference."

"I-I know," Yuzu insisted with a quivering tone, earning herself instant sympathetic looks from her sisters that she tried to will away with a forced smile, "I understand, really, onee-sama."

And she really did, for sure. However, Yuzu couldn't quite quell the sense of envy she could feel toward her twin sister Karin for sharing a quirk with their elder sister Naruko that she could empathized with her, leaving Yuzu feeling left out.

Poor Yuzu. Naruko mentally noted to offer the girl some private counselling later on.

As of right now, she smirked at the massive energy signature moving past the kitchen and toward the door leading to the entrance hall.

"And where do you think you're going?" Naruko said, quickly clearing up any air of confusion from Karin and Yuzu with her next line and action that consisted of her turning her head over her shoulder to the called out one's direction, "Handsome?"

'How does Naru-nee do that?' Always know whenever someone was behind her, even miles behind her.

It was seriously freaky to Karin.

With a cringe, Ichigo slowly graced his sisters with a nervous expression, "U-um, nowhere Naruko. I-I was just going to, u-uh… take out the garbage. Yeah."

"Without the garbage?" Karin quipped.

"Yeah!" Ichigo said automatically, feeling even more self-conscious when he realized what he just confirmed from seeing the weird expressions his sisters were sharing, "I-I m-mean, no! I was, um, going to fetch the mail!" He boasted, "Yes! That's what I was going to do, so…" He trailed off, slowly turning back round to grip the doorknob, ignoring Karin's disbelieving look.

'Really, that's the best Ichi-nii can come up with to avoid walking to school with his crush? How lame,' Karin thought dryly, though a smirk came to her visage when Naruko picked up the mail on the kitchen table and sauntered over to Ichigo, "Go get him Naru-nee!"

"Oh no you don't."

Blushing hotly at the feel of Naruko's arms snaking around his neck to give her leverage for her to jump onto his back, Ichigo once again cursed his rampaging hormones. Why couldn't they give him a break? Additionally, her purring sensuously into his ear was not helping matters much either.

"If you don't take proper measures suppressing that massive chakra pool of yours how do you ever expect to slip past my nose?" Naruko whispered, her tone dipping with heavy seductiveness.

"I also wonder how you actually planned to retrieve the letters when they're already here," She taunted, letting the mail hang gently underneath Ichigo's chin, just enough for him to feel them but not enough for him to get cut by their sharp ends.

"H-How did you get those?" Ichigo yelped.

"Why, one of our cute little sisters collected them from the door and propped them on the kitchen table of course!" Naruko explained cheerfully, "Which makes me wonder why a big stud like yourself would intentionally bypass them only to make up a blatant out-of-the ass excuse that you were going to collect them when in reality, you had no idea if the mail had even been dropped off," She did well exuding curiosity even when she wasn't curious.

She had Ichigo eating out the palm of her hand.

"Maybe you were trying to avoid me," She said, putting on a sad-face, "'Cos you don't like me."

"No!" Ichigo roared with desperation, spinning around hastily.

Naruko smirked internally, 'Gotcha. Oh Ichigo, you're too easy.'

"I like ya plenty!"

"Really?" Naruko asked with sparkling eyes, getting a vigorous nod from Ichigo, "Would you go as far as to say you love me?"

Ichigo opened his mouth to speak impulsively, but a miraculous rush of rationalization forced him to look over to his sisters, spotting Yuzu watching the scene with an expression emulating a kid in a candy store with Karin's imitating the expression an audience member would have on Jerry Springer.

"Uh…" The orange headed teen hesitated, tugging at his collar, "I-I, um… haha. Hey, is it hot in here or is it just me?"

Naruko sighed, 'Now he's become incoherent.' Ichigo's incoherence was basically his defence mechanism for whenever he was feeling particularly overwhelmed by embarrassment, "C'mon you, let's chow down on some grub before we head off to school." Taking Ichigo's hand in her own, the blond began leading the squirming teen back to the kitchen table.

"Wait… I till gotta take out the garbage."

"Don't think you can do that without any garbage to take out, can you?"

"Oh, right?"

"Aw! And onii-sama was so close too."

Being blatantly called out by his younger sister caused Ichigo to wince.

"Karin-chan, why can't onii-sama admit he loves onee-sama already?"

"Dunno. Guessing he's too pussy."

"Hey!"

"Now, now Karin-chan. Don't slander your elder brother like that."

"Sorry, Naru-nee. I was just trying to rationalize Ichi-nii's denial to his feelings for ya," The black-haired yin twin scowled, placing a hand to her hand, "Shoulda just put it the nice way."

"What's the nice way?" Ichigo said with a nigh-demanding tone, folding his arms over his chest before offering his sister a dry remark, "Really, I can't imagine what that would be."

"That you're just too tsundere to admit you love Naru-nee."

*Face-palms.*

"Really."

While Karin smiled cheekily, Naruko and Yuzu giggled.

Tigress in the Future

**C**

**H**

**A**

**P**

**T**

**E**

**R**

**TWO**

Distinguished from the Norm

"Are you till sulking over what happened at breakfast?" Naruko asked, now matching the grumpy steps of an irate Ichigo in her own leisured manner, arms folded behind her head, "C'mon! Lighten up, the girls were only having some fun with ya. No need to take it so seriously, you know?"

"Gah."

"Or maybe you're till ticked off that daddy attacked you when you were least expecting it, like a shinobi."

"Yes!" Ichigo said, making Naruko jump reflexively from the sudden loud agreement.

"Whoa there pal. You agreed to that a bit too desperately, don't you think?"

"Aw," Ichigo sighed, rubbing his left eye in a frustrated manner, "Fine! You got me. That's not what has me so cheesed off, alright? I just," He struggled, stopping to make a fist which he abruptly lined up with a building.

"Don't think it's a good idea to use solid concrete as a substitute for a punching bag anymore; not unless you want to wind up creating a peeping hole," Naruko quipped, "Just one of the many disadvantages of being crazily strong. Now," She laid a comforting hand on the stressed Ichigo's shoulder, donning a pleasant demeanour, "Do you want to talk about it? I'm all ears you know."

"Damn, why do I feel like this?"

'Idiot.' Naruko thought sympathetically, 'Cuz you can't decipher why you feel the instinctual urge to barricade your heart from my paws, and trying to fathom your actions is just pushing you to the brink of anguish.'

She could just straight-up tell Ichigo this, but Naruko knew speaking to your crush fluently when you yourself was so under confident when dealing with the opposite sex was certainly easier said than done. One of her best-friends, Hinata, could barely even say two coherent sentences to her crush Rock Lee before passing out. Honestly, though that was what made teasing Ichigo so fun to Naruko.

The way his face would light up with embarrassed flushes, or the way he would backpedal away from her approach as if she was his predator, and especially the way he would squirm around from her touches, Naruko just thought it was so adorable.

Thankfully for the anguishing teen, an earth shattering explosion resonated powerfully throughout the area, making them whip their heads to the source.

"The hell was that!" Ichigo shouted.

Great! Because he needed one hell of a distraction to derail his mind from his conflicted feelings for Naruko.

'Thanks, big-guy. I owe ya one!' Ichigo internally thanked the lord.

"How much money you wanna wager that this disruption's a hollow's doing?" Naruko outright stated rather than asked with one of her rare straight faces scarce of the usual playfulness that adorns it.

"Then that means we're gonna need to devise a strategy to purify its ghostly ass in a way that doesn't end up depicting me in a schizophrenic illustration." Ichigo explained in a rough voice emanating self-confidence, 'Thanks, doc. This is exactly the prescription I needed ordered to cure my emoness."

"And," Naruko started, propping a hand onto her hip in bored expectation, "What 'masterful' scheme have ya cooked up to accomplish that objective seamlessly?"

"The good old fashion way."

"Which is-."

A trail of dust suspended Naruko's ponytails in mid-air.

"Arrgh!"

"Of course. Just blindly charge forward like a maniac with little regard for strategy. Good thing he wasn't born in the Elemental Nations, 'cos as much as I love Ichigo, he wouldn't last two seconds there with that kinda reckless approach to a skirmish."

XxX

Surging around the corner at pace with cheerful indifference just how mad he actually looked, Ichigo felt a wave of euphoria flowing through his being finding a coal-skinned, white-masked creature standing on the sidewalk next to a recently damaged building.

This was what he had lived for.

He didn't know how to explain it. He just somewhat knew he was destined to pull a sword from his body ever since Naruko used her powers as a medium to awaken his own.

Heh.

There he goes again, talking incoherently, but this time because of his euphoria instead of his embarrassment. It was a good kind of incoherence.

He never prophesied becoming an epically powerful swordsman almost equal to the powerful kunoichi – and oddly stronger in certain aspects - his half goofy, half intelligent father clarified were shinigami. No, at first her giving him some of her chakra was no more than an experiment to see if he could unlock his own form of power. He didn't expect to be able to forge any chakra due to Naruko's explanation, but they figured he could have at least awakened the physical half of it known as Ki.

Instead of a tangible energy he got a tangible energy in the form of a long broadsword the length of his lanky body, seriously long. Perplexed about why a sword suddenly spouted from his rear, Naruko revealed his father might have something to know about that as he was the one who informed her of the existence of hollows in the first place.

Utterly shocked, Ichigo confronted his father whom was forced to come clean. He even conceded that his powers were temporarily out of commission, but wouldn't reveal why. Thankfully, Naruko had fixed that problem so the father-and-son duo could actually train, for real.

Somewhere down the line his sword had undergone a profound evolution and become a meat cleaver, no handle or even scabbard required. Instead a bunch of bandages just temporarily concealed Ichigo's massive reiatsu pool. If it wasn't for the bandages, he would be cruising around casually spilling reiatsu like an out-of-control tap.

Of course that still left the dilemma of Ichigo carrying a sword around town. Coincidently, Isshin had an insanely intelligent friend who created a convenient device that could inhabit Ichigo's physical body, acting as a makeshift bridge to his physical body and spiritual one so he could put away his zanpakuto inside of his spiritual body as if it was his inventory.

So now, every-time Ichigo needed to whip out his zanpakuto he could just hold out his hand like he was doing now, tighten his fingers, and materialize his lengthy cleaver in a myriad of blue particles that had the appearance of fireflies.

Ohh. Yeahh!

Every time he had this bad boy in his grip he truly felt like no one other than a few people could fuck with him!

When he had his mind set on something he let no one stand before him. Not that incredibly short black-haired lady wearing a black shihakusho who had dropped down from a building to confront the hollow.

If God-almighty himself couldn't get in his way, then one midget wouldn't either.

"Oi! Outta my way, I got a hollow to fry, y'hear!? You're not stealing my thunder!" Ichigo declared, galloping past the woman whom eyed him with an widened eyed expression of clear shock on her face.

He just ignored her as the bandages suppressing his tremendous amounts of reiatsu unveiled themselves as if they had a mind of their own.

"What the hell? He can interact with me!" She exclaimed the obvious, further surprised when the strangely dressed youth performed a three hundred and sixty propeller movement with his zanpakuto above his head before swinging it sideways across the hollow's body with all the grace of a Hobo on crack, slicing through it like a hot knife through butter, "And he possesses a zanpakuto and the raw strength to purify a hollow without effort. Momo-san!"

"I'm here Rukia-chan!" A girl with longish shoulder-length black hair appeared beside the now known Rukia in a blur of speed, wearing the exact same uniform as her, only on her dominant left arm was an armband representing her superior rank. Two bangs of her black hair which had a purple tint to it framed her face. She even had a hair bun on top of her head.

Like Rukia, Momo too flexed an average sized katana by her hip.

"Can you make anything out of him? I've never encountered a human who's possessed a zanpakuto before," Rukia murmured to Momo, watching the teen perform several mock-skillful manoeuvres with his zanpakuto.

Momo shook her head in the negative, "Afraid not. I'm just as slumped as you are on this one. Captain Aizen never specified the existence of any remaining shinigami in the living world who weren't fugitives to me, so I would presume he's either one of them or related to them by some means," She observed with a gentle voice, cupping her chin pensively, "Or if you want to go the fetched route you could venture to guess that he fabricated an artificial zanpakuto to fend off hollows, somehow."

"Humph. His show-boating doesn't seem artificial," Rukia said acerbically, a pout on her face at Ichigo's boisterous dancing.

"I hazard to guess he could relate well with Renji-kun," Momo giggled.

"That fool would most likely lose his marbles at the sight of this fool bragging like he just became a captain of the prestigious Gotei 13," Rukia quipped, feeling sentimental at the mention of her friend, "You," Both her voice and head lowered to reflect her sadness, "Know how he can get."

Momo clasped Rukia's shoulder, "Rukia-chan-." Before anything else could be said to console the girl, an otherworldly feat even among their kind derailed Momo's course of action.

If a human wielding a zanpakuto without a uniform on wasn't unreal, then that very zanpakuto dissipating into spiritual particles certainly was.

"What the hell!" Rukia gasped, mirroring Momo's slack-jawed expression, "How did he do that?"

"I-I don't know," Momo confessed quietly, watching a particular determined mask fix itself over Rukia's face, 'Uh-no, she's got that look again,' Smiling sheepishly, Momo tried to derail Rukia's predicted plan, "Uh, Rukia-chan, I don't thi-."

"Hey, you! Hold it!" Rukia said assertively, unintentionally cutting Momo off, "I command you to stop in the name of the Soul Society!"

Momo sighed while Rukia marched toward Ichigo whom eyed her with a cocky know-it-all smirk across his lips, "This can only end poorly."

"Tell me about it," Momo flinched, spinning her head to the side to find a blond-haired girl in a skirt standing beside her in a casual demeanour that made it seem as if she had been there the whole time. It wasn't every day you met the very reason your superiors suggested you tag along with your friend to her very first patrol mission in case she ran into this powerful spiritually enhanced human. Go figure.

"But it can't all be bad. If nothing else they might provide us decent entertainment."

"How did you-?" Momo trailed off to better depict her shock.

Naruko just glanced at her offhandedly, only confirming Isshin's beliefs that his daughter took after her, "Just meandered up to ya when you weren't looking as though I was eating a piece of cake."

"Uh. Seriously?" She got an uncaring shrug from the blond in return.

"As serious as I'll ever be."

That of course meant she wasn't serious at all, because when there was no reason to be serious, being flippant ruled.

She could get underneath so many skins and just laugh about it all.

xXx

"Oh, the Soul Society, huh? Never thought I'd meet one of those guys in broad daylight. What do I owe the honour to meet the acquaintance of one such as yourself, princess?" Ichigo taunted satirically, drawing a pout from the girl at the demeaning title he labelled her with.

"Don't get smart with me you!" Rukia demanded, now standing before the freakishly tall teen with her hands on her hips, glaring up at him, "I happen to be a member of the Gotei thirteen in case you haven't realized it!"

"Oh, the Gotei thirteen, huh?" Much to the shinigami's annoyance, Ichigo still equipped his mocking smile, "I know you expect me to feel more privileged to be in your presence, but I'm more curious to find out how much a shrimp like you gets paid to be on the force," Despite her awkward flinch, he decided to rub salt into the wound with a casual estimation, "Can't be much huh?"

"You jerk!" She screamed, trying to hit Ichigo's stomach since there was no way she was going to reach his face, as much as she desired to wipe that smug look from his pretty boy face, it just wasn't going to happen. He wouldn't even allow her to wallop him in the gut. Instead, choosing to handcuff her wrist before her fist could even get close with a stern grip.

"I… was just intrigued to see a human with the intricate ability to draw a zanpakuto from his being! Your insults were both extremely unnecessarily and petty!" Rukia argued with a strained look on her face, 'Preposterous! He was able to counter my blow without effort. He must be a dexterous practitioner of the art of Hakuda.

"You sure questioned me like a devoted fan girl would, didn't ya princess?" Ichigo said with casual sarcasm, releasing the seething Rukia who almost dropped due to the sudden unexpected release of momentum, "Or paparazzi. Take your pick."

"Jerk." Rukia grumbled, holding her wrist. With a deep breath, she placed a hand on the tip of her scabbard, thumbing enough of her sword up to allow the orange-haired teen to see a glow, "Fine! I'll teach you some manners you h-." Before she could even finish the rest of her sentence, she found a hand firmly grasping hers.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Rukia's eyes widened at the blond-haired figure beside her, "It's you!"

"Eh!?"

"Gotta agree with my friend," Naruko said, giving the smaller female a one-over. Yikes. Even Yuzu and Karin were almost as tall as her, "You sound like you've heard of me, which for all accounts should be impossible considering I haven't accomplished anything world-breaking to warrant recognition. So," She narrowed her eyes, "How do you know me?"

"I," Rukia stalled with a gulp, feeling herself begin to drown in the depths of despair, "Hm."

Thankfully, she heard the all too familiar sound of shunpo signalling her superior arrival next to her, "It's okay, Rukia-chan." The black-haired, purple-eyed girl heard the voice of Momo resonating into her ear from her side.

Turning her head, Rukia felt relief wash through her, even if Naruko till hadn't go of her wrist, "Momo-san!"

"I haven't identified any malicious intent from Naruko," Momo informed her with a kind smile.

"Naruko?" Rukia said, testing out the unfamiliar name on her tongue. Hearing such a feminine name prompted her to turn to the only other female whom name she was positive wasn't Rukia or Momo.

"Hi." Naruko said, releasing her hold on Rukia's wrist.

"Presuming we don't instigate hostility," Momo continued with a pointed look at Rukia, making the shinigami look down self-consciously, "Naruko-san has assured me that neither of her or her companion have any intention of initiating a disturbance in the immediate area."

"I see." Rukia said in acquiescence, "I was reckless trying to assertively decipher the cloud of mystery surrounding that buffoon," Ichigo gave Rukia a mock-sulky face in return to which she glared at.

"That was just a mistake, everyone makes one every now and again," Momo said with an empathizing tone, "It's whether you grow from the ramification to rectify your mistakes that really defines your character, Rukia-chan."

"Understood. Thank you, madam," Rukia said with a respected bow to Momo, drawing a sheepish smile from her, "You are as wise as someone of your rank is expected to be. Someday, when I have gained enough experience I wish to emulate your wisdom."

"That's enough, Rukia-chan," Momo whispered gently, clasping her shoulder, "You don't have to treat me with extra reverence you wouldn't with Renji-kun. K?"

Raising back up with an air of dignity hanging over her, Rukia said, "Understood."

"Well I guess all well that's end well huh?" Naruko said with a smile. She liked this Momo-character already. She was a little wary if this wasn't just an act to coax her and Ichigo into a false sense of security, but from what she could see so far, she was a well-respected, intelligent yet humble individual.

"Yes. Please pardon my partner's earlier hostility," Momo requested, waving a hand in front of her sheepishly smiling face, "As skilled as she is, I fear she's till a novice at this."

"Yes, I offer the both of you my sincere apologies concerning my impudent behaviour," Rukia said with a bow.

Naruko chuckled, rubbing the back of her head, "Hahaha. It's cool," She pointed to a blankly watching Ichigo, "Heck, that big dummy over there isn't any more seasoned than you are out on the field lady."

"Yes. I figured he might be a neophyte." Rukia smirked, drawing a giggle from Naruko and a sigh from Momo.

"Wait. I'm confused. What the hell are you guys talking about?" Ichigo asked bluntly, placing his hands on his hips, "So, are we like… not gonna fight anymore?"

"…"

"…"

A dust ball of wind passed audibly by.

"How do you put up with a simpleton like him?" Rukia questioned Naruko, "I would be most intrigued by your answer. I honestly find such an endeavour to be impossible."

"Oi!"

"Dunno."

"I maybe a simpleton princess, but at least I'm not a midget!" Rukia scowled, raising her hand to strike Ichigo, until Naruko placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Now, now, Rukia. Don't stoop even lower than Ichigo's level," Naruko quipped cheekily.

"I really have to know your method of tolerating this ignoramus," Rukia muttered bitterly.

"No method. I just tease the crap out of him."

"Teasing?"

"Yep."

"And may I ask how does that allow you to tolerate his insufferable stupidity?"

"Like this," Cheerfully said, Naruko swaggered up to Ichigo, calling out to him in a sing-song voice, "Hey! Handsome!"

Rukia didn't know whether she was more curious about Naruko's power to draw a cringe from Ichigo without ever having to flaunt any cement energy, or damned satisfied to see him squirming like an embarrassed boy of his earlier adolescent days.

"Uh. Hey," Ichigo stammered, backing up, "W-What's up?"

"You know what's up," Naruko remarked sunnily, swinging an arm around Ichigo's, making him blush hotly, "School's up."

"D-Do ya have to… uh… lead me there like this?"

"Well this'll teach ya to spew insults, won't it sweetie?"

"Man! Fuck me."

"You know I would."

"Damn it!"

And so, Momo and Rukia watched Naruko leading the thoroughly embarrassed Ichigo away, the former with a sympathetic expression on her face and the latter with a victorious smirk.

"I feel sorry for him."

"Humph. That'll teach that dummy to disrespect a member of the Gotei thirteen!"

Justice was better served ice cold.

XxX

(Elsewhere – Location Undisclosed)

XxX

The land inhabited by the soul-sucking creatures who would devour their own kind if they could was not a land for the ill of heart. With a sky eternally pitch black, a full moon perpetually lit up, and a bloody deserted area, Hueco Mundo was clearly made for vampires and wolves, the kind of fiends that lived in the shadows of the night stalking their prey, preys that usually perished in a second, never to be heard or seen from again.

Everyone from death gods, to the hollows' worst enemy, and even the hollows themselves knew their primary targets; their loved ones. It had been rumoured that all hollows since losing their hearts would specifically go after the ones they cherished most in life, when they were still human, gobble them up, and hope by chance they could fill the void where their hearts once was.

One hollow in particular had distinguished himself from that universally accepted theory.

He lay on the dirt ground beneath him with his bulky arms tucked behind his head, a pool of blood and broken limbs surrounding him that still didn't do anything to disturb his rest. His lanky body was as wide as it was tall, rivalling a bear's, his skin was an odd plum purple colour, though he did have the white mask on his face and a void where his heart should have been, identifying him as a hollow.

"**Seems like that fool hasn't come back."**

That was good. That was disturbingly good in his honest opinion.

He didn't care for his fellow hollow brethrens. They were either A: whiny little bitches or B: tree-hugging rainbow sappy pansies. They always complained about being alone and how they could never find their loved ones, or just never had any to begin with.

Worst case scenario some even gathered a lame posse to "roll" with.

Not him!

He didn't whine about never finding his precious connections to fill up his missing heart.

He never had any of those to begin with!

He rode solo, as a solitary lone wolf!

He would prove the stereotype wrong by eating whoever he wanted, preferably the strong so he could have a better chance of evolving to a higher form of power. Yeah!

Smirking callously, the hollow known as Bobomaru rose up to a standing position.

"**That means someone's strong patrolling the area of my favourite eating place. Should make for a good meal.**"

Touching the air, forcing it to tear open with his eyes gleaming with a yellow glow, Bobomaru stepped through into the unknown full of expectation.

"**Time to feast!**"

* * *

><p><strong>Momo<strong>

**Speed: 5**

**Strength: 3:5**

**Endurance: 3**

**Intelligence: 3:5**

**Stamina: 3**

**Swordplay competence: 4**

**Moveset: 5**

**Total: 30**

* * *

><p><strong>Rukia <strong>

**Speed: 2**

**Strength: 2**

**Endurance: 2 **

**Intelligence: 3**

**Stamina: 2:5**

**Swordplay Competence: 3**

**Moveset: 2:5**

**Total: 17**


	19. Naruko in Bleach Part 3

**Disclaimer: I don't Naruto or Bleach**

* * *

><p>My, my, how very problematic it was when your original plan had a wrench thrown into it.<p>

That was what the captain of the fifth squad would have said, only with far more frustration had he never launched operation plan B into affect.

Fortunately, years of being a well civilized hard working shinigami captain of benevolence had accumulated in his fair share of reverence, just enough for his word to hold a degree of wisdom to the higher-ups of the Seireitei. Of course he had other means of ensuring their total blinded faith in him.

One could never be too sure when they were seeking perfection after all.

Since his word was so highly regarded around Soul Society, it didn't surprise him that central forty six had taken to his 'suggestion' to send Momo to the World of the Living to act as a makeshift advisor to the inexperienced Rukia Kuchiki.

It was more or less the equivalent of playing speed chess. All puzzles of the chess board just fell oh-so smoothly into his lap, and even when it didn't, it did, as was one of the key advantages to having back-up plans. He would admit the former tenth division's son awakening his powers, by, legal means, (he would put it that way) was not a part of his scheme.

So now he was forced to accommodate to avoid this unfortunate divergence making his aspiration all but unobtainable.

That would just be tragic.

So now, he found himself in the World of the Living with his right hand man flanked at his side to accommodate for the thorn's presence.

"Are you sure these… well-mannered Neanderthals will cooperate willingly, Captain-Aizen?" He heard the sly, satirical mock-question of his right-hand man come from his side. Hiding his silver-head with a black hood, Gin Ichimaru donned a perpetually closed eyed, Cheshire cat expression. Even his grin wouldn't leave his lips.

As was customary for when they set foot on human world soil, a black cloak covered his usual shinigami attire of a black shihakusho held closed by a white sash, though his straw sandals were left plain in view. Like his partner beside him, Gin flexed a white haori over his normal shinigami uniform displaying his superior rank amongst the Gotei thirteen.

"Now, now," Aizen quipped with an eerily calm playful chide to his tone, a fringe of his chocolate brown hair poking out of his hood, "Would it really be necessary to answer such a rhetorical question?" When he turned his head, a gleam reflected off of his glasses, "Captain-Ichimaru?"

"Afraid not," Gin gave him a satirical shrug with a mock-frown on his face, "Sorry, captain. I'm afraid I had not known what came over me. Let's hope dis strange phenomena doesn't possess me a second time eh? Cause that would be quite tragedy, wouldn't ya agree?"

"The accuracy in your evaluation is truly something to behold, Captain-Ichimaru," Aizen returned, though his own sarcastic remark held a distinct politeness to it that was only accentuated by his smile.

"Oh? I'm flattened," Gin retorted.

"We should proceed with haste now," Aizen suggested, choosing to ignore Gin's phony gratitude to put the banter between the two to rest, especially since he had bigger fish to fry, "Puppets, after all, do need stringing if they are to be utilized with precise efficiency."

"And who's better to act as the puppet-master than the one and only Captain-Aizen?"

Sarcastically asked, the two dematerialized as if they were never there to begin with.

Tigress in the Future 

**C**

**H**

**A**

**P**

**T**

**E**

**R**

**THREE**

A Dangerous Alliance

"This sucks," Ichigo grumped, sagging his shoulders impatiently outside of his and Naruko's classroom, "I swear, next time I see those _damned _midgets, I'm giving 'em a piece of my mind," He massaged the back of his head irritably, "Gah! This is why I hate showing up late for class, 'cause Miss over the rainbow makes those tardy stand outside to teach 'em a lesson."

"Well let's look on the bright side of the spectrum," Naruko suggested, sat on the floor in a leg-crossed position, her hands on her knees.

Ichigo deadpanned a look downward in the content blond ponytailed girl's direction, "There's a bright side here?"

"Yep!"

"Then enlighten me. I didn't get the memo."

Giggling, Naruko snaked an arm around Ichigo's leg, feeling him flinching in her grasp, "Well, for starters we have an additional segment in the school day to ourselves."

"W-What are you doing?" Ichigo stammered as quietly as inhumanly possible, nervously trying to squirm his leg away from Naruko who had situated her head against his leg with a happy, relaxed purr, stealing discreet glances to their class.

"Take a load off yourself, Ichi," Naruko recommended, drawing more squirms from the orange-headed teen by rubbing her whiskered cheek up against his leg as if she was a cat, "C'mon, the floor's cosier than it looks."

"Uh. I think Ochi-sensei said we're supposed to stand."

"No she didn't."

"Well she implied it."

"No, she didn't."

"It's just proper courtesy for a troublemaker to stand up during their punishment damn it!"

"You're bullshitting and you know you are."

Ichigo cringed at perhaps Naruko's bluntest retort; remarked in the driest voice she could manage.

"Man," Ichigo slumped his shoulders.

Naruko sighed, pressing her palms against the floor behind her back to slouch lazily back in a lethargic demeanour, "Look, how's about we settle this mini dispute before it escalates anymore than necessary by just asking Ochi-sensei herself?" She mentally ate up the widened-eyed expression of shock that adorned Ichigo's face.

"You wouldn't?" Seeing Naruko inhale an excessive breath of air in a preparative manner, he acquiesced immediately, "Okay! Okay! Ya have me a sit down already," Dropping to the ground, Ichigo kept one leg cocked up to perch his elbow sideways across the top, and the other levelled on the floor.

"See? Now that wasn't so difficult, now was it?" Naruko grinned sassily, drawing a scoff from Ichigo whom turned his head away from her, "Oh perk up, don't be such a stick-in-a-mud," Gently, she cupped Ichigo's chin, altering his now blushing face to hers, "After all, you've got me, the number one kunoichi in the house."

"And… Um. W-What exactly am I meant to do with ya?" Ichigo said, trying to come off as snarky, but ultimately only came off as a fresh-out-the-bag virgin, "E-Err, here?"

Grinning saucily, Naruko brought her face so close to Ichigo's he could feel her warm breath on his, increasing his own already high stimulation, "I'm glad you asked, loverboy," She said, now full on sensuously massaging Ichigo's nose with hers, causing a shiver to run up his spine, "You can play with my body while I use your chest as a pillow."

Ichigo yelped, "Come again?"

"You heard me," Playfully reiterated, Naruko folded down Ichigo's raised knee blocking her entrance to his personal space, crawling lecherously in between his legs, stretching out over Ichigo as though she was a feline, keeping her shapely butt suspended blatantly in the air.

She giggled when an audible smack echoed, indicating that Ichigo had slapped his own hand away from her rear.

'I… I-I w-will not… give IN,' Ichigo mulled with a stiff hand, attempting to forcefully will himself to resist Naruko's sexual advancement, 'To, temptation! No, I am a, man! I-I can't indulge myself on dissipated activities!' Yet his hand continued to fight against his weaker dominant right one to grab Naruko's rear, 'Stop moving damn it!' Even his thoughts were getting nonsensical. So he double face-palmed himself.

It all worked out because he wanted to get his hands away from that incredibly round bountiful ass that seemed to be taunting him "Bet ya wanna grab me don't cha? Bucuck-Bucuck! Chicken!"

Or maybe that was just his imagination.

Honestly, it was hard to tell.

And he still couldn't resist peeling his fingers open to view Naruko's rear.

God damn temptation.

"You know, you're never going to be able to perform any intimate activities with me if you don't grab your fears by the horns, Ichi," Naruko said, manoeuvring her body so she was sitting in front of Ichigo, resting her folded legs sideways across his right one.

"Who said I even wanted t-to do those kinda things with ya anyway, damn it?" He retorted defensively, only to squeak with an incredibly high-pitched voice when a hand grasped his already hardened private parts, hardening them even more.

"Says your boys," Naruko answered bluntly.

"Aw, fuck me." Ichigo said, feeling distraught.

"You know I will," What really gave Ichigo pause here was how earnest Naruko sounded, no sense of frills in her voice as she grabbed Ichigo's arm and hooked it over her shoulder, bringing it up to her whiskered cheek, "I'm not just teasing you just 'cuz I enjoy seeing you become a stuttering mess due to some sadistic nature manifested in my being. I do generally like you."

"Y-You do?" Ichigo questioned.

Naruko hummed affirmatively, "You betcha I do!"

"What do you like about me?" Ichigo asked blankly, feeling his tense muscles easing up a bit.

"A bunch of stuff," Naruko assured cheerily, "Specifically, your kindness. You have a kind heart, but it doesn't consume you to the point you become everyone's doormat. I like that, that sense of dignity you hold yourself with, it isn't so excessive that you become pretentious either, like some people I know," Every Hyuga clan member with the exception of Hinata in their entirety, "You're strong too, easily capable of standing alongside me in battle."

"But you're so much stronger than me though," Ichigo mumbled automatically, too engrossed in Naruko's explanation of her most cherished aspects of him to really debate with her, 'Man, am I really that much of a swell guy?' He didn't think he was honestly.

"Doesn't matter," Naruko shook her head gently against Ichigo's chest and for once, the immersed teen didn't squirm from her long hair ticking him softly, "Not when you'll be caught up to snuff before you even know it."

"Where do ya get your confidence from?"

"Gee. I dunno. About the same place you get yours from I'm guessing," Naruko remarked satirically, drawing a groan from Ichigo.

"I walked straight into that one, didn't I?"

"Sure did," Naruko giggled, not beating around the bush, "It's true though. You and I both share insurmountable confidence that can't be broken by anyone."

"You are aware that confidence comes in many different forms, right?" Ichigo asked, using this chance to spout off a little wisdom of his own.

"And that matters why?" Naruko returned, bending her neck back to look into Ichigo's eyes. He opened his mouth with an index finger, but then closed it with a contemplative frown marring his visage, "Only matters in the sense that both our confidences stem from our comfort zone; fighting, which defeats your argument. We just don't believe we can lose, and even when we've lost, in our heads, we haven't."

"So we're both a couple of stubborn, hard-headed morons, then." Ichigo summarized acerbically.

"Yep!" Naruko giggled, melting against Ichigo's flinching palm, "But that's what makes hanging out with ya so much fun, having a personality so compatible with your own. It makes striking up a conversation with ya a breeze."

Ichigo couldn't refute to that. Everybody else in school would have struggled to get five words out of him due to his usual standoffish demeanour, but with Naruko, the banter just came so seamlessly, it was almost scary to Ichigo.

"So," Naruko started, sticking her lips to the back of Ichigo's hand, causing Goosebumps to seep across his skin as she moaned into the kiss, "What do you like about me handsome?"

"Uh." He liked her strength; it was something he found inspiring. For so long he wished to emulate her, to have power of his own so he could have her back so she'd had his ever since sauntering into his life and bluntly telling him he was a real cutie just because his hair was her favourite colour. And most importantly, he admired her loyalty.

It was strange because as much as Ichigo found it increasingly difficult to straight-up tell Naruko how beautiful she was despite his blunt and honest nature, her beauty enabled her to be with any guy she so pleased. She could easily ditch him, doll herself up, flaunt her beauty, and have a queue of saps lining up to take her out.

She didn't do that though. Hell, the thought to pretentiously show off her beauty hadn't even occurred to her, well, at least to anyone not named Ichigo Kurosaki.

No matter how much he pussy-footed around his feelings for Naruko she seemed adamant about staying at his side.

That sort of special circumstance honestly made him feel special.

Now why couldn't he tell her this?

"It's okay," Naruko remarked reassuringly, unwittingly causing a wave of guilt to flow through Ichigo, "You don't have to tell me if you're not ready, sweetie."

'Damn it!' Ichigo lamented, feeling terrible.

"Tell me when you're ready," Naruko suggested as if she could sense Ichigo's torment.

"I will," Ichigo said with resolve.

"Come on, give me your another arm," Naruko said, earning herself Ichigo's nervous compliance. Slowly raising his unoccupied arm, Ichigo struggled to keep it from shaking with a strained expression, eliciting a roll of the eyes from Naruko, "Really? Even after that heart-warming moment we just shared you're till a nervous wreck?" Ichigo gained a down cast look within his hazel orbs.

She supposed that she was too be expected.

Rome wasn't built in a day after all.

"Okay," Naruko sighed with leniency, stabilizing Ichigo's shaking hand by claiming it in her own, slowly bringing it past her shoulder, "Lemme lend ya a hand."

"Naruko?" He murmured.

"I won't make you do anything you don't feel comfortable with. Promise," Naruko assured, intertwining Ichigo's arms just underneath her perky, c-cup breasts, closing her eyes.

'Man, she makes me sound like such a wuss,' Ichigo bluntly concluded in the recess of his mind, though other than some minor anguish oozing off of his thoughts, Ichigo really didn't feel all that depressed. His awed fascination to see just how much Naruko ravished being his presence assured he was the furthest away from depression as he could be.

She even stretched her head back against his chest with a content sigh.

"We can just cuddle. K?"

"R-Right."

Hearing the sounds of deep, intense inhales coming from above them, Ichigo turned a dry gaze upward, burning a hole through the suspenseful visage of a brown-haired youth. He was mostly dressed in the same uniform as him except he didn't have the additional silver blazer jacket that Ichigo had on.

"Dude, you are so in there."

A scowl of annoyance graced Ichigo's face.

"Damn it, Keigo..."

XxX

(With Momo and Rukia)

XxX

"So," Momo started with a countenance of serenity, only accentuated by the lush scenery before her from their high perch on top of a skyscraper, "So now that we've got a little time to process our thoughts," This city, for as peaceful as it looked, was practically a goldmine for hollows due to the insanely high amounts of spiritual pressure housed within its residents.

Even if the spiritually aware humans were able to escape the lower-classed hollows they usually just ended up dying by their hands anyway, set to wander aimlessly across Karakura Town until either a shinigami guided them to the otherworld or, worst case scenario, they turned into a hollow, in which case a shinigami would then need to purify them to otherworld.

"What's your evaluation of Naruko-san and the extraordinary zanpakuto-wielding human?" Momo specified.

The pout that adorned Rukia's face showed the sore spot left by Ichigo's annoyance hadn't yet soothed, "I have no doubt in my mind that big dummy is nothing but a run-of-the-mill Neanderthal whom is the off-spring of a shinigami originally of the Gotei 13 or, and most likely, stole the innate powers of another highly unfortunate patrolling shinigami to integrate with himself," Though the petite purple-eyed shinigami clearly remembered her partner's explanation regarding the possible origins of Ichigo's shinigami-like powers, she just found it too implausible to really wrap her head around the idea.

The very concept of any member whom had pledged their allegiance to the magnificence of the Gotei thirteen would ever wound up forsaking that loyalty was incomprehensible to her.

"I'm sensing a twinge of resentment here," Momo noted courteously, earning herself a grimace from Rukia.

"What are you implying milady?" Rukia snapped in a defensive fashion.

"Only that you may be allowing your grudging feelings toward Naruko-san's companion to cloud your judgement," Momo clarified, keeping such a level head on her shoulders that it made Rukia look away from her hastily, "Which I wholly understand, Rukia-chan. It wasn't my intention to crucify you, honest. I was merely pointing out a flaw in your... one-sided evaluation so you could improve upon it."

"I know," The young inexperienced shinigami whispered, releasing a sigh, "My apologies for stepping out of line, milady, it's just when I first laid eyes on that man I was,-" A black-haired Ichigo flashed through her mind, though the endearing idiotic smile on his smile distinguished him from the rude-boy she had met earlier.

"What did he remind you of, Rukia-chan?" Momo asked blankly, estimating this was something relating to Rukia's division in the Gotei thirteen.

Shaking her head, trying to squash the wave of guilt flowing through her, Rukia smiled in a rueful fashion, "-Hit with a blast from the past," She said cryptically, closing her eyes, "That is all."

"I see," Momo said, sensing Rukia's reluctance to reveal anymore of an obviously touchy subject. She left it at that.

"Lady Naruko, however," Rukia said abruptly, changing the subject, "Intrigues me, if not for the fact I never imagined a human could possess such power," She rubbed her wrist tenderly, indicating to its previous imprisonment from Naruko's powerful grip.

"Yes, I initially felt tad intimidated by her, primarily because she appeared beside us without notice, and only made her presence known when you marched off to confront her partner," Momo explained, eliciting a gawk from Rukia.

"But surely that's Impossible! If that were true she could've-."

"Precisely. Naruko-san could've exterminated us right there and then and we would've been none the wiser."

"No way."

A serious, solemn cloud hung over the immediate area.

"I'm beginning to make sense of things now," Momo said, staring up at the clouds, "Originally, I was puzzled why Captain-Aizen requested I should be chosen to escort you on your first patrol mission," Rukia gasped, prompting Momo to continue, "While I don't have much faith in my capabilities to subdue Naruko-san if it comes down to it," She smiled sheepishly, "Two hands are better than one."

Glancing downward, a look of passive acceptance adorned Rukia's visage, "I see."

The sound of a phone going off echoed through the air, startling Rukia.

"Duty calls, I assume," Rukia quipped coolly, turning her head to see Momo reach into her shihakusho to pull out a lit-up cell phone.

"Crime doesn't sleep," Momo joked, giggling sheepishly at her own joke that she knew was quite cheesy. Even Rukia smirked at her, though that amusement was wiped clean from her face when Momo lifted up her phone and gained a gawking, horrified expression, "Uh-oh. This isn't good."

"I'm presuming this isn't an ordinary hollow," Rukia estimated, straightening her scabbard, "Correct?"

"Correct," Momo confirmed, now donning mask of grave significance, "A vice-captain classed hollow has just appeared in the region."

Rukia's eyes widened, "Incredible," She tried to will away the fear that settled itself in her heart with a bitter, sarcastic remark, "Great. Just great. How fortunate we are to be on station on such a day where one of us is limited in our powers."

"For now, we'll have to make do with what at our repertory. However, if push comes to shove I can always send a request to central forty six for the release of my full power."

"Of course."

The two leaped away in pursuit of the powerful hollow that had appeared.

XxX

(Karakura High School – Classroom)

XxX

Eventually, the two tardy lovebirds had been allowed back into the educational fold, much to Naruko's dismay, whom was certainly enjoying her alone time with Ichigo, and Ichigo's indifference. Being that his embarrassment with intimately interacting with the opposite sex clashed with his enjoyment of intimately interacting with opposite sex he didn't know what to feel, so he sunk down in his desk until the bell rang for lunch.

"What's hanging, dude?" Keigo asked with a silly grin and a raised hand.

Ichigo casually knocked his palm against Keigo's in a friendly high five without missing a beat, answering tepidly, "Same old, same old."

"The usual?" Keigo asked incredulously, getting a perfunctory nod from the tangerine-haired teen.

"Like I said," He reiterated while pushing his chair back to stand, "Same old, same old."

"Oh!" Keigo beamed, slamming his left fist into his dominant right hand, "I get it," Grinning slyly, he swung an arm around Ichigo's shoulder, earning himself a miffed glare from the wise-cracker, "You're just pulling my leg, ain't ya buddy?"

"Yes, Keigo, I'm just pulling your leg," Ichigo quipped, sarcasm oozing from his dry, uninterested tone, "Cause I'm such a fool like that."

"Aw, c'mon!" Keigo urged.

"C'mon 'what'?" Ichigo returned, dislodging Keigo's arm from his neck which caused the brown-haired boy to pout.

"Man, how did an uncool guy like you score a hot girl like Naruko-chan?" Keigo sulked, crossing his arms.

"Dunno," Ichigo said, pointing his index finger over Keigo's head, "She's right behind ya, so fire away."

Keigo froze up, turning his head over his shoulder to find the blond drowsily lifting her head off of the desk with a yawn of complete disinterest for her surroundings, "Uh, Naruko-chan."

"S'up?" She asked blithely, giving her eye a good rub before stretching her arms up, "Need anything?"

"Well, uh," Keigo paused with a dumbfounded expression, not sure what he needed.

"I take it Asano-san's trying to persuade Uzumaki-san to ditch Kurosaki-san for him," A teen boy of femininity slyly estimated, sauntering over to the trio, followed by another three.

"Quit trying to embarrass me in front of the lady, you!" Keigo pouted, turning away from his friend in mock-contempt.

"I believe you do a fine job of accomplishing that yourself," He held a hand up to his mouth to strife his chuckles, missing the gleam of opportunity that occurred in Naruko's eyes.

"Aw, you're just trying to act cool in front of the ladies," Keigo protested, earning himself an honest-to-god curious, blank look from the accused teen.

"Huh? I prefer older woman."

"Sure you do, Mizuiro~chan~," While Mizuiro cringed, a round of snickers followed from Naruko's satirical remark, "And I'm a monkey's aunt."

"Oh, sweet poetic justice," Keigo murmured dreamily, hugging himself.

"Now that was a cheap shot Uzumaki-san," Mizuiro mock-chided, drawing a round of mischievous giggles from the girl. Could he really blame her, though? Mizuiro Kojima was just plain womanly, everything from his oval-shaped face, to his shoulder-length black hair, to the way he pouted, and even to the way he sat could be labelled as feminine.

Besides that though he was a nice enough guy who felt indebted to Ichigo and his good friend for protecting him and Keigo from a pair of bullies trying to impose a false act of superiority on them. Like her old friend Sakura Haruno, Mizuiro had a pair of leaf-green eyes and he wore the full complete school uniform like Ichigo.

"Well you know what they say, Mizuiro, if ya don't like yourself just undergo a complete makeover," A girl of masculinity quipped with a smirk. Looking at her, Naruko and Karin in a lineup, one would come to the conclusion the latters were the most girly girls ever. Whatever tomboyish traits the sisters had just paled in comparison to hers. Not only was her hair spiked up like a wild boy, she lacked anything resembling a chest and had a muscled body with little to no curves.

Like Naruko, she too donned the school uniform for girls save the additional silver blazer jacket.

"Hell, you should just let Naru and I have our way with ya," She suggested boldly, flexing her left bicep proudly with a snicker, "We would have ya toughened up in no time at all. Ain't that right Naru?"

"No lies there, Tez," Naruko grinned fondly at the abbreviation of her name.

"Thanks for the generous offer, Arisawa-san," Mizuiro responded with sarcasm disguised as polite appreciation, "But I believe I'll pass. I quite like living and all."

"Suit yourself," Tatsuki shrugged, folding her arms casually behind her head.

An amber-haired girl beside Tatsuki stepped up with a bright smile on her face. Similar Tatsuki's clear predominance of masculinity, she blew Naruko and her other little sister, Yuzu, out of the water in femininity. Her boobs were just incredible, easily rivalling Tsunade's jugs. Her curvaceous figure looked like it belonged on the body of a twenty year old than a fifteen year old.

Her amber hair cascaded elegantly down to her mid back with a couple of stands framing her nigh perpetually happy face. Her attire mainly consisted of the one both Naruko and Tatsuki were wearing except she completed hers by flexing the additional silver blazer jacket.

Her most predominant accessory, however, were the pair of hairpins on either side of her head.

"Hi, Naruko-chan!" She greeted the kunoichi cheerily, feeling familiar enough with her to refer to her by her given name. She approached the blond with open arms.

"Hi ya, Orihime-chan," Naruko said, standing up to accept the girl's embrace, inwardly delighted to see she was still taller than Orihime. Back in the day, she always had a problem with her height, being the shortest in her class in the academy, but here she was almost the tallest girl in her class, save for a few others.

"I made some yummy desserts for us to share if you'd like," Orihime said, pulling away from Naruko after giving her friend a few hearty pats on the back.

"Sure. Why not?" Naruko smiled, knowing Orihime loved to share her rather… colourful dishes, though despite their oddities they actually wasn't all that bad.

Feeling her significant other's presence moving away from the group, she turned around, spotting him moving toward the door, "Hey, handsome. Where are you going?"

Stopping momentarily in his tracks, Ichigo looked back to give the girl a simple answer, "To eat." He scratched his head somewhat sheepishly, "Though I almost forgot."

He didn't need to say anymore as a massive schoolboy easily the size of a fully grown muscular man made his way over to him, only briefly stopping to give Naruko a nod, "Hm."

"Catch ya later, Big-Chad," Naruko said.

Yasutora Sado, aka Chad, Chado or Big Chad, responded with a perfunctory nod, before sauntering over to Ichigo.

"Sorry, Chado," Ichigo grinned apologetically, offering his fist to Chad, getting it bumped in a sign of camaraderie, "You cool?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, let's go," He said, looking over to the others to toss them a brief bidding, "Later, you guys."

"I see Ichigo till can't just admit he digs ya, huh?" Tatsuki said with a weary sigh.

How long was that going to drag on?

"Yeah, but it isn't as bad as it looks," Naruko insisted, leaning back against her desk with a casual palm pressed upon its surface, "He's coming round to the idea of us being together, slowly but surely. I just gotta coax him outta his defensive shell first, but as luck would have it I know just the thing that'll do the trick."

Tatsuki arched an eyebrow up in curiosity, "Let's hear it."

Struggling to stifle her mischievous giggles, Naruko ushered the two closer toward her, "Well," She started, concluding the rest of her explanation in indistinct whispers only Tatsuki and Orihime could hear, being so close to her and all.

While the kunoichi's bipolar friends' initial reaction was correspond to the other, a widen of the eyes, their full reactions were very much polar opposite from the other once the information had truly settled into their heads.

Orihime's cheeks flared up with two red circular highlights.

The edges of Tatsuki's lips curved outwards to form a cheeky grin.

"Kinky," The tomboy karate specialist said, pulling away from Naruko.

"Wow," Orihime drawled, looking toward the ceiling with a starry-eyed gaze, "Sooooo romantic; just like in the new Spiderman movie," A whimsical realization suddenly hit the visionary schoolgirl, "But come to think of it you and Kurosaki-kun kinda resemble Peter and Stacy."

"Really, Orihime?" Tatsuki asked with a dry smile.

She didn't want to know what occurred in her friend's over-imaginative mind sometimes.

Orihime giggled, "But wait. Aren't you and Kurosaki-kun at risk of getting caught by the-."

"No sweat. The old man hardly does anything around here anyway," Naruko assured with a dismissive wave.

"You would've thought they would've fired him by now," Tatsuki said with a perplexed frown.

"True, but what are ya gonna do?" Naruko shrugged, "'Sides hire someone else better suited for the job."

"Like that's gonna happen."

"I'm telling ya."

XxX

(Elsewhere - With Aizen and Gin)

Appearing in front of a four story high luxury hotel the cloaked forms of Aizen and Gin were greeted by a fancy-dressed individual standing before the doors with an air of dignity about him.

He wore a black expensive-looking sleeveless vest over a white dress shirt with a green tie. A pair of black pants and black shoes complemented his black vast. His chocolate brown hair was fanned up at the sides, and a large goatee sat on his chin.

Though his most intimidating accessory definitely was the dangerously eyeballing snake situated around his neck.

"Oh," Gin said, not able to resist the chance to bring up his mock-complimentary, "Quite the get-up ya have here."

"Who are you?" He demanded, getting straight to the point, "And what brings you to Kariya-sama's domain?" His snake lifted up its head to hiss threateningly at the two intruders, "There, there, I assure you, you will soon get your meal."

"Oh, I see security's tight," Gin noted satirically, earning himself a glare from the man.

"You have quite the mouth on you."

"So it seems I do," Gin shrugged unapologetically, "My sincere apologies. Soap has been rather difficult to get my hands on where we reside ya' know."

"You're an epitome of why food should not speak," He said, struggling to maintain his dignity and class.

"Oh I say, it appears hollows have some competition," Gin mocked, "How wonderful. Also, allow me to just drop in my two cents, dat I believe the adorable factor of your rivalry would be enhanced that of several times if, by some otherworldly fabricated methods, dat ya two turned out to be bros."

"You wretch." He whispered, slowly raising his hand as if to point at the trolling shinigami, only to feel his hand gently pushed downward, making him gasp, "What?"

"I heavily advise against resistance."

The brown-haired man's eyes narrowed on the bespectacled man that had him in his grip, 'His movement was swift, barely even made a sound. Out of all the bounts only one can emulate the speed of this man so it's only logical to assume he and his accomplice are shinigami,' His analytical gaze turned sharp, "I'll only ask you again, what brings you here to the resort of Kariya-sama," His words leaked venom, "Shinigami."

Aizen graced him with a smile of benevolence, "You look like a busy man so I'll cut to the chase," He calmly freed the man's hand, watching him don a scowl as he brought his hand up, "Firstly, I would like to start off for apologizing for my impudent actions. I feared the situation would turn violent if I hadn't of taken action."

He scoffed, "Your point? Hurry and make it quick as I grow hungry staring at you as time passes by."

"But of course," Aizen agreed, smile still intact on his face while he removed his hood from his head, "As you may already be aware of my seemingly scarce reiatsu, these cloaks my companion and I are wearing perfectly suppress our reiatsu, allowing us to emulate canon fodder as it were."

"That explains why I'm unable to properly gauge how delicious my meals will be." He said with a composed scowl.

"Yes," Aizen droned, no outward response to being condescended to, "As for why I am here now, I have come to offer a proposition to your leader, dear Bount-san," The temperature dropped to zero degrees at the courteous way Aizen addressed him by his specie, "I believe it could potentially benefit the both of us."

A sadistic smirk found its way to the bount's face, "Proposition? Heh. Are you really so arrogant that you believe our great leader, Kariya-sama, would trust food?"

"Oh. But I do believe he would see the… light, let's say."

"Your riddles do not amuse me."

The sound of drawing metal drew his attention to Aizen's hip, catching the sun glinting off of his blade.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

"Now I do believe proper introductions are in order," Aizen said to the stoical visage of the bount before him, "I am Sosuke Aizen and my companion over there is Gin Ichimaru."

Gin gave him a mock wave, "Hi. I don't believe we've been properly met, if ya feel our friendly banter isn't classed as proper greeting."

"It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance…" Aizen trailed off with a polite hint.

"Ryo, Ryo Utagawa sir," The now known Ryo said, giving Aizen a respectful bow, "But excuse my earlier show of impudence. I had not realized I was in the presence of a valuable ally, as opposed to food. I tend to become quite impulsive on an empty stomach."

"Please it's quite alright. We all make mistakes, as mortals I fear," Aizen said with emphasis on the word mortal, "Now if you would be so kind as to escort us to Kariya-san I would be most grateful, Utagawa-san."

"Of course," Turning around, he pushed open the doors, courteously offering the two to step through the door with a sweeping gesture of his arm, "Right this away, sir."

Swiftly appearing at Aizen's side in a blur, Gin fell in step with him, sauntering into the hotel, "Well that went easier than I had expected. I'm kinda disappointed to tell ya the truth," The slitted eyed shinigami said with mock-sadness.

"Yes, for this is but only the first step to obtaining the hogyoku from Kisuke Urahara."

* * *

><p><strong>Aizen<strong>

**Strength: 5**

**Speed: 5**

**Endurance: 5**

**Intelligence: 4**

**Swordsplay competence: 5**

**Stamina: 4**

**Moveset: 5 **

**Total: 33**

* * *

><p><strong>Gin<strong>

**Strength: 5 **

**Speed: 5**

**Endurance : 5**

**Intelligence: 4 **

**Swordsplay competence: 5**

**Stamina: 3:5**

**Moveset 4**

**Total: 31:5**


	20. Naruko in Bleach Part 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruko or Bleach**

**Prepare for trouble**

**And make it double**

**To protect the world from troll devastation **

**To overthrown the Kishi and Kubo corporation**

**To denounced the meaning of the original dubs **

**To extend my reach to the stars above**

**Thugs **

**Bunny**

**Is taking over the Naruto and Bleach franchises, bitches!**

**Then I'm taking off at the speed of light! They can surrender now or prepare to fight**

**Mewoth~ that's right**

* * *

><p>Ichigo, accompanied by Chad, was sauntering down the hallway of Karakura High School in all his usual indifference of magnificence. Admittedly, a lot of that had to do with Chad himself, aka a man of few words.<p>

As of right now, he needed that, that sense of respite from one blond ponytailed girl. Not so much of the girl herself, but the topics that could potentially be brought up regarding her from chatter-boxes like Keigo or Mizuiro.

It was difficult enough coping with the myriad of butterflies inhabiting his stomach every time he was alone with her, let alone having to answer awkward questions relating to his progress with her from his acquaintances, Keigo and Mizuiro.

Keigo would've most likely protested he just straight-up ask her out; cut the pussy footing, and Mizuiro, oh, his suggestion would've arguably been even more aggravating for Ichigo, since the orange-headed teen could see the feminine-youth slyly offering him some advice on relating to his own success picking up (his) milfs.

_Gah._

He groaned in annoyance just thinking about the smooth operator giving him advice as if he was his elder brother. No thanks. Quite frankly, he would've preferred Keigo's pushy urge over Mizuiro's sly advice any day of the week, but that wasn't saying much.

He never got that with Sado, though. Good old, Chad, both respectful and silent until spoken to, to not butt into affairs that did not concern him.

What a guy.

This internal evaluation of his acquaintances had Ichigo given a better appreciation for the unspeaking youngster, something he now wished to share with him, all with a rare smile of serenity, "Hey," At least he would've had he never been metaphorically (and literally) yanked off of the stage, leaving the broad-shouldered youth standing in the hallway, alone.

"Hm." Chad hummed deeply, sauntering forward, only realizing something was amiss when the orange-headed teen didn't reply, "Ichigo?" Spotting no one at his side, Chad ceased his trek altogether, feeling a cloud of confusion envelope over him even if his expert stoic visage hid that from others.

"He's gone."

XxX

Ichigo's original course of action in retaliation to being yanked quite roughly into a small space was to deal out some much needed disciplinary punishment to the culprit, simply because _no one _pushed him around, even his old man. He would sooner jump off a cliff than roll over and take his dad's beatings.

Only, once his eyes caught sight of shiny gold he only had to lower his eyes a touch to see a pair of cerulean orbs glinting with devilry to feel his heart stop.

Not that he would ever, but a pitiful cry of "mama" would've summed up Ichigo's panic nicely.

"Um." Feeling Naruko's palms slithering up to his pecks, he shivered.

"This is pretty kinky, huh?" Naruko asked rhetorically, girlishly allowing the back of her heel to tilt upward, her cheeky grin wrapping Ichigo's heart in knots.

"Um," The blond predator's tangerine-haired prey tried, sweat coating his forehead as his brain was in scramblers, "I-I guess."

"You guess?"

Ichigo nodded shakily, confirming in a whisper, "Yeah."

Joking rolling her eyes, Naruko rose up on her tiptoes, moving her head to his ear, resulting in Ichigo's heart speeding up rapidly to the point he could hear it clearly, "So," The whiskered-faced kunoichi murmured in a saucy demeanour, "Now that we're secluded in such a cosy area," He noted the sarcasm midst her seductive tone, "What would you like to do to me handsome?"

"Eep."

"You heard me."

Naruko didn't even give the flustered teen a chance to think on the matter by locking his lips against hers, getting the arbitrary gasp in her mouth urging her on to slither her tongue into his mouth. As she expected, he wasn't very good, at all, and was noticeably hesitant to kiss her back. Even his palms were just inches away from her rear, supposedly not sure whether to touch her or not. So Naruko just gently stroked his tongue with hers, running her hands up his shoulders, over his cheeks, and to his spiky orange hair.

Once she had settled her hands there she combed his hair with the touch of a patient girlfriend, while simultaneously inhaling and returning the breath from his mouth to hers.

His rising stimulation did wonders for lulling the tension in his being. His arms dropped like boneless pasta to his sides, his eyes turned dopey, and an almost lustful groan passed through his mouth to echo into Naruko's, who moaned in return.

Framing Ichigo's cheeks, Naruko slowly pulled her lips away, not being able to stifle the giggle seeing Ichigo instinctively trying to reclaim her lips against his own.

"Well, I see you enjoyed that huh?" Seeing Ichigo blink open his eyes with confusion, she giggled again, "Not that I can blame ya though, not when you've just tasted these beauties," She puckered her lips, drawing a dazed stare from Ichigo, "I doubt even ramen can match the deliciousness of their magnificence."

"What was that?" Ichigo asked blankly, drawing a roguish roll of the eyes from Naruko.

"Oh, I dunno, sweetie, but I think it might be something beginning with a "K" that ends with a double "S" and is usually something romantically cheesy that couples do up in trees," The blue-eyed girl clarified satirically, eliciting a groan from the teen in her grasp.

"That's not what I meant," Ichigo began to tiredly clarify, "I meant I wasn't expecting ya t-to, y-you know," Suddenly, trying to recall the intimate activity the two had undergone brought back his shyness in full, "Err, um."

"Kiss," Naruko bluntly finished for him, a smirk on her whisker-marked face.

"Yeah. That," Ichigo confirmed, eyes wide at Naruko's smirk, 'I got a bad feeling about that.'

"Well would ya lookie here, we're already finishing off each other's sentences," His fears were confirmed and his face was illuminated in cherry-blossomed red by Naruko's cheerful quip, "Golly, we must really be a match made in heaven."

"How do I end up walking into those obvious set-ups?" Ichigo sighed.

"Cuz you're the straight-man to my wise-guy," Naruko joked.

"Right, how could I forget?" The supposedly straight-man sarcastically quipped back at her, earning himself a look of mock-hurt from the ponytailed girl.

"Ow. That was harsh, Ichi," Naruko said, "I tell ya our roles just so you can go and reverse 'em right off the bat," She looked at him with a playful eye, "How very naughty of ya."

Ichigo equipped a sneer across his face to mask his nerves, "Oh. You thought you could label me now, did ya?" He tried to not feel too put off when Naruko hummed with sexual approval at his smooth tone, "Someone's got a lot to learn."

"Learn how to tame my prey, you mean." Naruko retorted, causing a grimace to flash on Ichigo's face.

"No way you could eve-." His lips bearing the soft and sensuous caress of Naruko's lips ended his denial prematurely. He instinctively rose his hands up as if to pry the girl's lips from his, but only docilely allowed her to take in his breath and play with his tongue, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs.

When she pulled her head away, Ichigo's exhale was audible.

"Damn it," He mildly glared at Naruko's smirk, "That was a cheap shot."

"Would ya like to try for round two?"

"You bet your ass I do."

He realized his mistake when Naruko gasped mockingly.

"Ohh! So you would like a piece of my ass, huh? Well it's about damned time too, if I do say so myself, mister, considering all the times I've waved the bait in front of your face."

"Just shut up and do it!"

A mask of faux innocence appeared on Naruko's face.

"Do what again Casanova?"

"Aw!"

"Alright," Naruko said with a soothing tone, guiding her head to Ichigo's to plant a soft peck on his lips, relaxing his scowl, "I was only messing with ya," She caressed lips again with the sulky-faced tangerine-haired teen, "No need to take it so seriously, you know," Ichigo might have had something to say about that if the pleasure from feeling Naruko's lips repeatedly against his wasn't so good that he could think of nothing else other than what flavoured lip-gloss she was wearing.

"You can touch me y'know," Naruko assured in a murmur, fondling the edge of Ichigo's wet lips with her thumbs, "I meant what I said before. My body's yours to play with."

"I remember," He whispered awkwardly, trying to shake out the tension in his palms, "Just give me a sec." When he felt like his hands were significantly loosened, he breathed preparatory, "Oh-kay, here goes nothing!" His palms reached out to Naruko's rear, shaking with every inch of the way.

Naruko watched Ichigo's strained face in amusement, "I'm not gonna sting ya," She chuckled, getting a brief nervous grin from Ichigo before he went back to his intense concentration. Finally, he settled for clamping his hands on Naruko's hips, closing his eyes as if he really was stung, "You really haven't touched a girl before, have you Ichi?" She deduced blandly.

Opening his eyes, trying to ignore how good Naruko's curvaceous waist felt in his grip, he shook his head stiffly, "No, madam!"

Naruko shook her head, though the way she performed the motion was infinitely more relaxed than the way Ichigo did, "I really am going to have to screw ya, aren't I?" She could feel Ichigo visibly flinching in his grasp.

"Come again!"

"You heard me, mister," Playfully reiterated, Naruko slid an index finger underneath Ichigo's chin, "Just gotta break ya in to break ya outta your defensive shell."

"How do ya plan to do that?" Ichigo wondered with a noticeable fearful disposition.

"Like this," With a suggestive clutch of his red-ribbon bow tie, Naruko reclaimed Ichigo's lips, drawing in his breath. The orange-headed teen instinctively stiffened his hands on Naruko's hips, once again feeling Naruko's tongue worm its way into his mouth from hers, playfully wrestling with his. His private parts hardened when Naruko moaned into the kiss, pressing her breasts against his hard chest.

Ichigo rapidly rubbed his hands up and down Naruko's sides, just inching away from his prize. His nerves kept him from grabbing it. Even when his finger so much as sunk into its incredible cushiness, he quickly reared his hands up her back with a gasp into her mouth.

"Help yourself," Naruko suggested, moving her lips to Ichigo's ear, "I know you want to, handsome."

Gulping a lump down his throat, Ichigo nodded rapidly, his usual listless demeanour nowhere to be found, "Oh-kay!" He squeaked, breathing in deeply to regain his gruff tone, "I can do this!" With an intense statement of bravado, he carefully slid his hands down Naruko's sides, feeling his private parts harden when the girl moaned.

When he felt a light abruptly shine in his eye, he hastily whipped his head to the source to find an old man in a cheap blue uniform standing next to Chad, both looking as tepid as the other despite having almost caught the lovebirds red-handed in the act.

The only sign one of them was feeling any sense of awkwardness was the bead of sweat rolling down Chad's cheek.

"Fifteen." The old man said, seemingly nonsensical.

Ichigo's blank visage mirrored Naruko's, "What?" The tangerine-haired youth voiced their thoughts.

"You're the fifteen couple I found making out in my closet." He explained.

"Oh, well that makes sense," Naruko said with a look of recognition, "You scarcely utilize any of the tools in here, all but making it the perfect love nest for hormonal teenagers like us." She could feel Ichigo flinching awkwardly against her, prompting her to roll her eyes.

"That's true." He said, his voice raspy, slowly beginning to shut the door, "Well I'll leave you two crazy younglings at it for now.

"I'll just wait here still you're done Ichigo," They heard Chad say dispassionately before the door shut completely.

"That was weird," Ichigo mused with a bizarre look in his eyes.

"I'll say," Naruko said, shaking her head, "Least he's polite enough to give us ample time to conclude our little session," Cupping Ichigo's cheeks, Naruko reached up to lay a quick kiss on his nose, making him freeze self-consciously, "Gotta give him credit for that."

"Uh. Right."

"You're not put-off by Big-Chad's presence just outside the door, are ya?"

"Well-."

"Cuz you know as well as I do he would never spill uncomfortable business concerning you to anyone. He's totally loyal like that. His lips are as good as sealed."

"Good point."

Tigress of the Future

**C**

**H**

**A**

**P**

**T**

**E**

**R**

**FOUR**

To Usurp the Soul Society

Just as one would expect given the extravagant outlook of the luxurious hotel preoccupied by the bounts' leader, his chosen chamber was exceedingly exorbitant complete with a wide window taking up the entirety of the wall to give him a perfect view of the town.

His one-seat high-class red recliner chair was lined up neatly in front of the window as if to grant him a perfect view in a theatre. Beside his stationary relaxed form was a small circular table with a luxurious bottle of champagne perched upon it richly surface.

"Seems I may have an unexpected guest or two," He said to himself in a smooth voice, a smirk on his countenance and a glass of wine in between his ring and middle fingers, his red eyes shining with amusement.

As if dressed to impress, the bounts' leader sported a long brown trench coat reaching his feet that was over a grey dress shirt with a black collar held upward, a loose red tie hanging limply around his neck, and a pair of posh, cleaned shoes fitted on his feet.

What were arguably his most eye-catching characteristics were the unique wing style the edges of his short spiky silver-hair were styled in and the scar on his chin.

"Though I have to wonder how they convinced Ryo to permit them an audience with me or why their reiatsu is seemingly non-existent," This brief evaluation caused a frown to develop on the visage of the classy leader.

He knew Ryo took his position as his right hand man very seriously, and it was because of this knowledge was why the vampire-esque boss knew his second-in-command wouldn't just drop in to say "hi."

No. Such flippant greetings would make it annoyingly difficult to distinguish Ryo's important reports from his nonsensical ones.

Thankfully, this wasn't the case.

So whenever Ryo's reiatsu signature came within his head honcho's sensory range it always peeked his interest, be it whether he had information to relay or a member of the bounts wishing to drop in to see their leader, and he was just unfortunate enough to be their escort.

Whatever Ryo needed the red-eyed man was about to find out.

"You may enter, Ryo," The silver-haired man said with a smirk of amusement situated on his visage, sensing Ryo just outside his door.

Without a word, the doorknob turned, then came forward to make way for Ryo, "My apologies for the abrupt interruption, Kariya-sama, but a couple of gentlemen who believe they can be of significance has requested an audience with you."

"How very intriguing," Kariya said smugly, resting his cheek against his index finger and thumb, "And who are these gentlemen who believe they can be of great assistance to our plans, Ryo."

"I'll show them the way in," He said, allowing the sound of both parts of Kariya's double doorsopening up to meet his ear, "Right this way, gentlemen. Kariya-sama is rather busy."

"I'm not surprised," The amusement fell from Kariya's face at the sound of a courteous agreement, "Very well, in that case my comrade and I will try to keep this get-together brief as it were."

Positioning his hands on the arm rests of his chair, Kariya rose up to a standing position, turning around to greet the speaker. He inwardly raised an eyebrow at the sight of two individuals, both with smiles on their faces, though one was politely inviting while the one was mocking.

"Oh? Isn't this flattening?" Kariya asked, sarcasm oozing from his tone, "The captain of the fifth and third division has graced I, the Bounts' leader, with their presence. Do what grounds of honour do I owe to receive a house call from one such as yourselves," The tension in the air thickened, "Sosuke Aizen, Gin Ichimaru?"

"Please, there's no need for formalities," Aizen insisted with a sheepish wave in front of his smiling face, "We are, after all, civilized individuals roughly on the same ground, near enough."

"Indeed we are," Kariya said smoothly, deciding to let Aizen's insinuation that one of them may have been above the others slide for now, "So what can I do for you well civilized gentlemen? I can assume you've planned that our meeting's to stay secluded among ourselves."

"If that's an indication of our seemingly scarce reiatsu, then yes, our intention is to have a private conference with you, Jin-san," Aizen said, "Fortunately, the cloaks you see us wearing is what allows us to slip under the radar of the Soul Society. I hope that clears up any confusion you may have harboured."

"It does," Jin smirked, shoving his hands into his pockets, 'A rather ingenious method if I do say so myself, though I expected nothing less from a member of the prestigious Gotei 13. It appears infiltrating the Seireitei will be even more challenging than I originally surmised. Unless,' -They had an proposition to offer him and his group of loyal followers that could make their shared aspiration so much easier to receive in the long haul, "So, would it be safe to deduce you've sought I, the Bounts' leader, out to propose an joint association between our sides?"

Gin mock-gasped, "Oh, ya are quite smart," He applauded him in a sardonic fashion, "If I didn't know any better, I would have to conclude ya possess precognition being so receptive like dis."

"Indeed I am," Jin said sarcastically, shooting a dark look at Gin's grin.

"Please, I ask of you to pardon my partner's behaviour," Aizen said, trying to politely dispel the hostility his companion had "unwittingly" aroused in the room, "He isn't used to interacting with others outside the Seireitei I fear."

"Perhaps it would fair you well to keep him on a leash," Jin said with an even tone, feeling his usual smirk inching across his face once again, causing a look of feigned shock to flash on Gin's face.

"I shall look into it immediately," Aizen said, controlling his hurried words before his subordinate could retort, "Now, regarding my proposal, are you inclined to accept it or reject it?"

Moving his calm speculation of Aizen and Gin over to his right-hand man, Jin managed to conceal his wariness at his silent uncharacteristic behaviour even though shinigami-beings were present in the room.

"I suppose it would benefit the bounts' cause if I were to at least hear you out, seeing as you were led here by Ryo," Jin said, looking back at the two shinigami, "Out of all the bounts, Ryo is one of the two who fosters the most hatred toward your kind."

"Yes, the endeavour of convincing Ryo-san to allow my companion and I an audience with his illustrious leader was tediously difficult," Aizen explained, turning his head over his shoulder to interact with the stoic Ryo, "Care to clarify, partner?"

"But of course," Ryo accepted, meeting the calculating gaze of his master, "Do not worry, Kariya-sama. These two individuals possess as much hatred for their own kind as we do. This hatred also comes with the admirable desire to usurp the Soul Society to ensure all races are treated impartially."

'How shrewd,' Jin internally complimented the supposed rouge shinigami, 'Empathizing with Ryo's dislikes to get in his good favour, though I still find it ludicrous that Ryo would be swayed so easily,' His right-hand man wasn't so naïve that he would just so wholeheartedly trust the word of a being he despised above all else.

There had to be something he was missing.

Jin's head was instinctively drawn to the sound of sheathing metal, catching a shine glinting from Aizen's hip.

"I see," Jin said in acknowledgement.

"And what may I ask is it you see?" Aizen asked as though he was reading from a script.

"That you do indeed hold the bounts' best interest at heart," Jin explained, taking the proverbial bait, "I ask you overlook the initial prudence, gentlemen, but no outsiders are welcomed into the bounts without first being treated to a show of distrust. Now that you have proven yourselves trustworthy, consider that period all but terminated as of now."

"Hey, thanks, but I'm afraid the arbitrary justification was quite unnecessary, as we understand perfectly, as humanoid beings," Aizen insisted, his smile becoming increasingly more frightening in that how serene it stayed the whole time. It was even more disturbing that the occupants paid no mind to it.

"As such beings, with above-average human limitations, we are all prone to our fair share of mistakes," The bespectacled man said.

"Be that as it may, it was still rather distasteful of myself to judge you based on appearances," Jin explained eloquently, "For that I still believe an explanation was at least in order."

"Well if you insist then I suppose my hands are tied," Aizen said with a sigh, almost feeling the urge to curse the efficiency of his own power, "Now, concerning my proposition."

Jin opened his mouth to make a noise of recognition, refilling his glass to take a sip, "Of course. I find myself most intrigued to what you have planned to aid the bounts in their endeavour to usurp the Soul Society."

"Safe passage."

"Understood, but what is the role we have to fulfil in order for you to hold to your end of the bargain?"

"That? Oh it's nothing a group of your talent can't handle I assure you. I only ask you play delivery boy and bring me a little parcel."

XxX

(Later that day - Karakura High School)

Right on cue of the final bell of the school day, wave after wave of students hurried out of the building in excitement, much too eager to do their own thing now that they wasn't restricted from by rules and regulations set by school administers.

Most noticeably, among the crowd of nondescript students that won't ever even get a chance to be mentioned individually, Naruko's and Ichigo's groups were seen sauntering along the sidewalk with the de-facto leaders in the middle of their cliques.

And as was proper courtesy for men to allow ladies to go before themselves, the three girl cell of Naruko, Tatsuki, and Orihime were ambling in front of Ichigo's, which consisted himself, Chad, Keigo, and Mizuiro.

Giving her arms a good stretch above her head, Naruko let out a loud sigh, "All right, glad that's done. So what are you ladies up to now that you're free as the birds themselves?"

"Well, I'm hoping to get home right away and catch an episode of my favourite cartoon, Tom and Jerry," Orihime said, a smile of fond remembrance craving across her face at the thought of her favourite slapstick show.

"Why, Orihime-chan," Naruko said with a phony gasp, lightly grasping the amber-haired girl's shoulders, "I never knew you of all people could take such a healthy fascination in violence. You go, girl."

"I like it. It's so funny," Orihime giggled with innocent, gentle insistence, "And the atmosphere of the show's so wonderfully light hearted, I can't help but feel immersed throughout the duration of the episode," She accentuated her own light-hearted nature by throwing her arms up in the air.

"Well that explains a lot," Tatsuki joked, sending her amber-haired friend a grin which in return drew another giggle from her.

"So what's on the schedule of Tez now that school's ended?" Naruko asked, looking over to her spiky-headed tomboy friend.

"Not much to tell ya the truth," Tatsuki admitted, heaving her arm up to scratch behind her head in contemplated nonchalance, "Was just gonna back home, chow down on some grub, and take an extra dish down to Orihime's Mom made for her."

"Oh, wow," Orihime acknowledged with a face lit up with awe, "That's really nice of her, Tatsuki-chan," She gave a quick polite bow Tatsuki's way before matching her friends' strides once again, "Please give Aunt Arisawa my best regards."

Japanese individuals referring to a middle-aged woman as their aunt" didn't necessarily mean that woman was their aunt. It was just a polite way to address them.

"Meh. It's okay," Tatsuki waved it off, "Mom'll understand," Here, she rolled her eyes, "I mean really, you always just end up making the weirdest stuff if I don't come around with a home-cooked meal for ya."

"But her cooking's not all bad," Naruko insisted, turning her head to give Orihime a wink, "Kinda tasty actually."

"Maybe for you two gluttons," Tatsuki grumped flippantly, causing her more girlish friends to snicker. With a sigh, she looked to shift the topic of conversation onto its original source, "Say, that reminds me, what have you got planned for the evening ahead, Naru?"

"Oh!" Orihime piped in excitedly, "If you're not busy you could come over to mine! We'll have an amazing time watching cartoons!"

"Can't."

"Aw."

"Gotta go to work," Naruko explained with an apologetic grin.

Technically, she was currently already at her multiple occupations via an ingenious combination of clones and transformation.

One transformed clone worked in a nursery as a pretty young brunette.

Another one ironically worked as a kitchen assistant in a ramen noodles shop, transformed as her elder sister figure back in Konoha, Ayame. Needlessly to say, that clone _really _enjoyed her work.

And the other two just performed odd jobs ranging from mowing people's lawns, washing their cars which came with the restraint of beating up anyone brave enough to holler wolfishly at her wet form, and cleaning out attics that belonged to old people.

While her clones carried out those mundane and tedious tasks, an unchanged clone of herself had a part time job as a roller-skating waitress in a hip fast food restaurant. Due to the sexy uniform she had to wear as par the agreement to undertake the job, she had to ignore the wolfish jeers from their customers.

Whilst her clones looked to bring in ends-meat for herself and her adopted family, simply because her pride would not allow her to just live off of Isshin like a no-good bum, the real her trekked off to the mountain side to meet up with a friend of Kisuke's so the two could engage in their ritual friendly spar.

The two had fast become good friends being that their playful personalities corresponded seamlessly with the other.

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that. You work part time after school," The spiky-headed tomboy knew this because occasionally, she liked to drop by Naruko's workplace to grab a bite to eat. She was usually companied by Orihime, Ichigo and his mock-gang of do-gooders.

That was the only time Naruko actually liked to work in her clone's place coincidently enough.

"Bummer," Tatsuki said with an ounce of disappointment.

"Yeah, well, what are ya gonna do? A gal's gotta make a quick buck for herself somehow, otherwise she won't be able to afford anything nice for her family."

"True."

"Ichigo."

Keigo was yapping on persistently about something the orange-headed de-facto leader of the guys most likely didn't give a rat's rear end about. He picked up brief, scarce parts of the conversation going on between his friends, and they were only the calls of his name before he instinctively tuned the rest out.

His attention lingered solely on the back of the blond beauty ahead of him.

It was almost like the world around them didn't even exist, including the colours of the sky and ground themselves. They were just in a void of nothingness, the odd, random colour purple that encompassed them accentuated this fact well.

His captured gaze travelled down from her long twin ponytails, to her shapely hips, and lastly, her round rear-end.

His arousal spiked and saliva gathered in his mouth just from the front row view he had of the girl.

Abruptly, he touched his lips with his fingers, his recently caressed lips, attempting to gauge the flavour of the lip gloss that graced them from Naruko's.

'Strawberry,' He concluded mentally, barely managing to suppress a cringe at the irony, 'Man, maybe Yuzu and Karin were right all along,' That he really did foster some feelings of affection toward Naruko, 'I guess I'm just-,' Even in the recess of his own mind he still wasn't comfortable enough to admit he was just too shy to admit he liked his adoptive sister in a romantic sense, so he just settled for admiring her silently from the rear.

Heh.

Now he was turning into Chad.

He had to hand it to his friend.

The silent approach of keeping your feelings to yourself beat letting them out any day of the week.

He could stand here all day watching Naruko.

Not even that annoying prick-like contact with his ear could disturb his evaluation of her.

Actually, that was more bothersome than he initially thought it was.

The hell!

"Hey," Ichigo demanded curtly, turning his head to the side to find Keigo retracting his hand from Mizuiro's left, "What gives?"

"Oh, good. You're still with us," Keigo grinned, "You were really out of it there dude."

"You were stuck gawking at Uzumaki-san so long we almost assumed she had you in a trance," Mizuiro casually added on as if sensing the tangerine-haired youth's incredulity, causing him to sputter slightly.

"A-And you thought flickering my ear was a good idea, how?" Ichigo hurried, reaching over Mizuiro's head to happy-slap Keigo's, drawing a cringe and a wail from the teen, "Don't do that again."

"I, err, wouldn't even dream of it," Keigo assured with a timid grin and a shaky thumbs-up, prompting a similar scowl to form on Ichigo's face.

"So I supposed we're just going to pretend Kurosaki-san leering at Uzumaki-san never happened," Mizuiro surmised, never lifting up his head from his phone to look into Ichigo's deathly glare.

"Less you want some of this too?" Ichigo retorted, jabbing his open left palm with his right index finger threateningly, though Mizuiro's typing maintained seamless.

"What was the topic of conversation based on again? I believe Asano-san knows the answer to that one," The feminine youth said, earning himself a look of betrayal from the brown-haired one at his side.

"That's what I thought," Ichigo said, sheathing his hands within his pockets in a huff to slouch grumpily, 'Damn it. That was a close shave.'

"Oh, yeah!" Keigo beamed, slamming his fist into his palm for emphasis, "Me and the guys wanted to ask you if you wanted to hang now that school's over."

"Oh, really?" Ichigo asked dryly, prompting Keigo to nod enthusiastically.

"Totally," He smiled, slouching back with crossed arms to emulate his best "cool" pose, "So, whaddya say, dude? You up for some guy time? I know all that time you spend with your sisters must be totally cramping your style, am I right?"

Ichigo shot Keigo's insinuation an unamused glance which caused his friend to break out in a nervous sweat. Sighing as if he was releasing his dry annoyance, he lifted up his hand, caressing the side of his spiky orange hair, "Can't."

"What?" Keigo questioned, flabbergasted, "Why?"

"Got work," Ichigo explained.

In reality, he technically did have some spare time on his hands, but he much preferred to use it sparring with his father before he had to head to his night shift with Chad.

"Aw, man," Keigo pouted, crossing his arms, "You never wanna hang dude."

"Man's gotta know his responsibilities take precedence over leisure," Ichigo clarified in a lackadaisical fashion.

"Hm." Chad hummed in agreement.

With that last uttered from Chad, the conversation between the guys petered out. In fact, the only other piece of dialogue they exchanged were farewells when they came to a crosswalk that branched off from their de-facto leader's route.

For a while, he was left alone with the girls until eventually the four reached another intersection of roads that distinguished Orihime's and Tatsuki's routes from Naruko's and Ichigo's.

"Bun-Bye, Naruko-chan!" Orihime said, giving the blond a farewell hug.

"Catch ya later, Orihime-chan," Naruko returned the hug.

"See ya on the flip side, Ichigo," Tatsuki grinned, exchanging high-fives with the tall teen, one up high and down below.

"As sunny as you hope it'll ever be," Ichigo quipped with bored indifference, drawing a frown from Tatsuki.

"Geez-Louise, Ichigo, I know we're just departing ways for a day since we'll see each other tomorrow, but do you think you could at least try and lighten up, at least somewhat anyway?" Tatsuki asked, trying to liven Ichigo up a tad.

"Oh? What exactly gave you the idea I wasn't lightened already?" Ichigo questioned satirically, his countenance never changing from its default casual expression of indifference, "I mean, really, I spend a good two hours out in the sun every morning I thought my hair would be eye-blinding shiny by now," He shrugged, "Guess not huh?"

"Jerk."

Naruko giggled, drawing Tatsuki's attention to her, "Catch ya on the flip side, Tez." She said, holding up her hand.

Tatsuki's expression brightened as she deciphered the signal easily without needing to be told, "Back at ya, Naru," She returned, readying her own hand. Both tomboys leapfrogged high to connect their palms together, "Maybe you can get Mr Smartass over here to lighten up."

"Oh don't worry, I have my ways of "livening" Ichigo," She said, turning her head to give Ichigo a wink, causing him to blanch from the implications, "Isn't that right handsome?"

"Um, sure," Ichigo hurried, rounding on Orihime so quickly he missed the gleam of opportunity that flashed in Tatsuki's eye, "Inoue?"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime assured with a pleasant demeanour, holding her palms neatly below her waist to dip her upper body into a civil bow, "I hope a wondrous evening is in stored for you."

"Um. Thanks, I guess," Ichigo said, still trying to mentally pull himself together.

Raising back up to her full height, the amber-haired beauty was met with the grin of her best friend, Tatsuki, "You ready to make a move Orihime?"

"Yep!" Orihime said, "Are you, Tatsuki-chan?"

"Just give me a sec," Tatsuki said, looking back at Ichigo and Naruko, the latter had moved over to Ichigo's side, "Later you two. Don't stay up too night lovemaking and you might actually make it to school on time tomorrow," She got her desired reaction when Ichigo stared blankly at her and Naruko snickered.

"Wait- What! Hey!"

"Hahaha," Tatsuki laughed, walking away with Orihime ahead of her, tossing a wave over her shoulder, "Later."

"Ow, sassy Tez," Naruko commented, stifling her last round of laughter, "That was funny."

"Whatever."

And so, the two recently accused lovebirds were left making their way back towards their home, fully aware how insinuating of a statement that would've been to anyone else who didn't know them personally.

While Naruko was sauntering playfully forward with her arms held neatly behind her back behind Ichigo, the orange-headed young man himself was trudging grumpily a few steps in front of the blond, keeping his head lowered and hands wedged into the confines of his pockets.

"C'mon Ichi, Tez was only screwing around with ya, you know, for kicks-and-giggles," The blond ponytailed girl said in the hopes of making Ichigo feel better, though he wouldn't budge nor show signs he even acknowledged her question other than a little flinch of his shoulders, "No need to sulk."

And he still wasn't going to dignity that with an active response.

…Well, at least not a vocal one if his moving hand had saying anything to say about it.

"Handsome," Naruko mumbled, lightening her playful grin to a caring one toward Ichigo's dangling hand, "If you wanted to hold my hand all you had to do is ask y'know," Without hesitation, she wrapped her smaller, smoother hand in Ichigo's larger, calloused hand, feeling light tingles against her palm indicating Ichigo had flinched, "The worst I wouldn't have said is no, making it a win-win for you."

Ichigo said nothing in return, mostly because he was too glad to be ahead of the girl so she couldn't see his blushing visage. Instead, he just relaxed, content to silently enjoy the solitude relaxation he had with Naruko, closing his eyes. He felt her inching closer to his side, lining her warm body against his to rest her head against his arm.

His nerves stilled, almost as if he had been situated on a cloud to float majestically through the sky, all spread out like an eagle. To think, initiating the level of intimacy he was sharing with the young woman had once been his biggest fears, all through Junior high school.

He almost forgot why he was self-conscious about this.

"Onee-sama, onii-sama!"

…Andddd that brought it right back.

Quickly withdrawing his hand from Naruko's, Ichigo nervously rubbed the sides of his jeans, apparently in a state of clear uncertainty where would be the best place to station them to emanate his finest aura of nonchalance so his approaching sisters wouldn't catch on to the previous lovey-dovey moment he had shared with their unrelated sister.

'Crap, crap, crap! Why now, damn it?!' Ichigo frantically drilled himself for answers, though didn't expect anyone to answer them. Naruko, on the other hand, kneeled down with inviting arms for Yuzu to dash into her embrace, wrapping her arms around her neck.

"Well hello, little sis," Naruko greeted warmly, raising up with Yuzu situated on her left arm, "And how was your day at school?"

Yuzu disconnected their cheeks to show her sister the eyes of clear unbridled, unsullied innocence with a happy smile on her face, placing her hands on Naruko's shoulders, "It was great! Karin-chan and I both ranked in the top ten on our school exam chart."

"Atta girl," Naruko grinned, looking down to find Karin sauntering over to Ichigo's side, "Good job to you too, Karin-chan!"

"Thanks, Naru-nee," Karin returned simply, though her expression turned into a pout when she glanced up at Ichigo's blank face, crossing her arms and looking away from her older brother, "Don't expect me to ask ya to sit on your shoulder, or nuthin'."

"Fine. I wasn't gonna ask ya anyway," Ichigo retorted, mimicking his younger sister's actions, though it was inevitable both would break if the playful snickers of Yuzu and Naruko were any indication. This was no more but a contrived gimmick the two shared, akin to the rough wake-up call shared between Ichigo and Isshin.

It usually started with Yuzu willingly running into Naruko's arms and being hoisted up to her sister height. Ichigo and Karin would then glance at each other and deny they wanted the brotherly/sisterly affection of the other using their tsundere-demeanours.

It never lasted long.

As soon as they looked each other, they broke out into a grin.

…Like always.

"Aw, screw it," Karin shrugged with her blunt statement, "I'll hitch on a ride on ya, Ichi-nii."

"Sure," Ichigo said, kneeling down, helping Karin up onto his shoulder, "Though I gotta warn ya, it may be a bumpy ride."

"Then I guess I better fasten my seatbelt," Karin joked without any amusement evident on her face.

"Guess so," Ichigo said sarcastically, looking at his other two sisters to find them watching with roguish mischief in their eyes, "All set then."

"That we are." Naruko said, following Ichigo's lead toward the Kurosaki's clinic.

Ichigo inwardly sighed, 'Glad I dodged a bullet here.'

"Has onii-sama admitted he loves you yet onee-sama? Because Karin and I saw you two holding hands like a real couple before I approached you," Or maybe not. Right on cue of Yuzu's question, Ichigo cringed, getting Karin to grasp his head to steady herself on his shoulder.

"Hey!" Karin complained.

"Uh. My bad," Ichigo said, eliciting a giggle from Naruko.

"Not yet!" Naruko winked at Yuzu's pouting face before she nudged Ichigo lightly with her shoulder, "He's almost there. Isn't that right handsome?"

"Uh. I guess so," Ichigo said.

"You know, the sooner you let it off of your chest that you love Naru-nee the sooner you'll feel better about it," Karin said, earning herself a deadpanned stare from Ichigo.

"Since when did you become a little expert on relationships?" Ichigo quipped.

"The day you made it plain-blank obvious that you love Naru-nee," Karin retorted.

"Ah-uh. Hey, here's a brilliant idea. How's a mountainside drop sound?" Ichigo asked acerbically, though Karin only scoffed in dismissal.

"Like you would ever really be willing to go through with that threat Ichi-nii," That was the downside to having sisters who knew you since your early adolescence. They knew you like the backs of their hands and could see through your cock-and-bull bluffs better than any precognition user ever could.

"Aw, damn it." Karin and Yuzu snickered at their older brother's sulky face of defeat.

"Ichi," An unusual utterance of a shy demeanour from Naruko prompted him to stare upon her blankly, even Yuzu and Karin remained quiet so the two could talk, "I know this is somewhat out of left field and way too early to discuss, what with us still being in high school and all, but with us holding Yuzu and Karin like this, it got me thinking; we must look like one big happy family, huh? I mean, with us being the parents."

"Uh," Ichigo shifted uneasily, scratching his cheek with his index finger, "Probably," As in yes. The arbitrary visionary illusion he just had based on older versions himself and Naruko taking their kids to his pop's for a family meal portrayed that well enough.

Shifting Yuzu from one arm to the other, Naruko inched closer to Ichigo to lay a soft hand on his elbow, "Have ya ever thought about us having kids someday, you know, sometime in the foreseeable future when we've graduated school and college?"

"Well," Ichigo stalled, causing Karin to roll her eyes. Yuzu struggled to stifle the excited squeal that threatened to break past her lips, "That is to say," That is to say that he needed another distraction to get him out of this awkward situation.

Luckily, one came in the form of another explosion that rocked the area.

"What the hell was that?!" Karin roared, looking to the source of the noise to spot a cloud of smoke wafting through the air, "A fire?" Suddenly, she was brought off of Ichigo's shoulder and handed to Naruko, "Ichi-nii?"

The previous uncertainty and bashfulness that had been on Ichigo's face no longer decorated his rough features, not even a twitch of unease lingered there. Instead, a serious mask of deadly intent meaning business was on his face. Though Ichigo's next choice of words spoiled any semblance of "cool" he had going on in its entirety.

"Looks like it's time to get my game on."

"Did you just really quote GX? How lame," Karin face palmed herself in her sister's grip, causing Ichigo's bravado to dissipate.

"Yeah…" Ichigo admitted blankly, "Couldn't think of anything else to say."

"Here's an idea. Don't say anything to try and act "cool" and you'll avoid looking a total numbskull, genius," Karin quipped with an acerbic tone.

"Now, now, Karin-chan. Don't take that tone with your brother," Naruko chided in a motherly tone, causing Karin's own show of bravado to disappear instantly, "Everyone's prone to mistakes, even Ichi. It isn't right to crucify 'em like that. Okay?"

"Sorry, Naru-nee. I get it." Karin said softly.

"Though if it helps, I'll try to keep your suggestion in mind," Ichigo said sarcastically, turning around to take off, in doing so missing the roll of the eyes from his sister, "I'm off."

"Aww," A wave of guilt flooded his being from hearing his younger sister's whine of disappointment, "But you didn't even give onee-sama an answer, onii-sama!"

"Sorry," He didn't turn to face Yuzu's sad face. He only lifted up an apologetic hand with tense shoulders, "Maybe next time. See ya in a little while." With that said, he quickened his pace to get out of earshot of his sisters.

"Ohh!" Yuzu pouted, feeling Naruko move again once Ichigo was out of range, "Why can't onii-sama just admit he loves onee-sama already," She flailed her little arms around almost impatiently, "I wanna be a bridesmaid and wear a pretty dress."

"I'm more concerned about that random explosion that occurred," Karin said with a puzzled frown, "Stuff like that doesn't just happen every day and so spontaneously."

"That's most likely why he headed off, to check out the commotion." Naruko said, getting Karin to nod.

"Wonder what that was anyway," The black-haired yin twin said.

"It'll probably be on the news tomorrow morning," Naruko reasoned, putting Karin and Yuzu on her shoulders in that respective order, "Now let's get you two little ladies home, 'cuz I got work in a little while."

"Okay!" Yuzu said cheerily, "I need to get started on dinner anyway."

"You're the boss," Karin said nonchalantly, "I need to sharpen up on my skills on Tekken."

Naruko hummed, but her mind was elsewhere, 'Two hollows, huh? Been a while since that happened,' She contemplated in the recess of her mind, 'Might have to check it out after I drop my sisters home. Don't want Ichi getting hurt now.'

As she continued to saunter, she got the sudden urge to turn her head upward, finding the similar golden orbs of a black cat teasingly watching her from its high point perched on a wall.


	21. Vegeta's Dominance of the Naruto Verse

**I don't own Toriyama's masterpiece: Dragon ball Z or Kishimoto's shit wreck: Naruto.**

**I decided to remove this short two-shot due to the only form of constructive criticism I received, from 0 Jordino 0. There's no need for me to stoop to poor bashing levels like "Naruto: One Man Team." How the hell did that atrocity accumulate so many reviews, favourites, and followers? It's insane considering how poorly written it is. **

* * *

><p>A ridiculously bright blinding light the colour blue materialized to form an orb of intense power in an area decayed by sheer, undivided destruction.<p>

Suddenly, it dispersed to reveal the short prince of all Saiyan-warriors standing with his arms crossed in all his magnificent grouchy glory, jet-black hair spiked up, naturally gravity defying, widowed scowl sat on his features, and the traditional dark blue spandex that had become a trademark of his.

Without even moving an inch to signify he had done anything of significance, his relaxed scowl intensified, "Stupid woman," He muttered in a gruff, rough tone, "Why did she send me here?" He monitored his surroundings, ignoring the smell of dead bodies and weakening Ki-signatures, "To such a weak dimension inhabited by puny weaklings," He scoffed, "Would've been better off sending that bald midget here instead."

Even the largest abnormal power level couldn't even compare to Kakarot's shrimp of a best friend. What made stupid-ass fairies believe they could stand up to him and his _brilliance_.

"_I heard that_!" The cross feminine voice of his wife echoed through his headpiece.

"Good!" The prince yelled belligerently, causing a few survivors to flinch in the distance, "I want you to hear it!"

"_Shout to the choir all you want, jerk, I very much appreciate it," _Bulma sarcastically quipped back.

Vegeta increased his scowl, then scoffed in dismissal, "Whatever. Just relay your desired, petty task to me so I may complete it and get back to important matters, namely training to crush that clown Kakarot."

"_Yeah-Yeah, because that_'s _been going so well for you, huh hotshot_," The science prodigy mocked, prompting Vegeta to glare into nothingness, "_Your gigantic ego aside, I need you to scope the place out, see if it's good for business._"

"So it's extortion then." Vegeta summarized, shortly followed by a sarcastic remark, "Like I haven't already done that."

"_And that's why you're the perfect man for the job!" _Bulma said energetically, "_Do keep in mind if anyone of the inhabitants turn out to be fighting eccentrics like you and Goku then you've got yourself an army of lackeys at your disposal._" Vegeta scoffed, as if he would want lackeys so weak that they couldn't even stand up to Nappa let alone the earth's strongest earthling.

"Oh? What do we have here?" A smooth voice resonated from his side. Merely turning his head, not willing to _grace_ a peasant his full attention, Vegeta found the first inhabitant of this unknown dimension sauntering toward him with a cocky smirk situated on his lips.

By his skin colour, he could tell he was just as eccentric as the humanoid animals back on earth, being that it was pale grey.

Most fitting of a snake, his watchful orbs that danced with sick glee were golden and encased by purple eyeliner. His long black hair extended to his mid back. His attire consisted of a long beige-coloured tunic over a long-sleeved jumper, a purple sash tied around his waist and black toed shoes fitted on his feet.

"How most unfortunate that one such as yourself would get lost in a situation like this," He continued, goading Vegeta on with a condescending, Frieza-esque tone, holding his arms out to the sides, "Could I possibly b-?"

"Who are you?" Vegeta demanded, driving to the meat of the discussion without beating around the bush, which caused a frown to envelope on the Frieza-emulation's countenance.

"Well, isn't that surprising? You don't seem like you've been installed with proper manners," The black-haired man stated the obvious, "How unfortunate. I feel the utmost sympathy for the parents that were cursed with the misfortune of raising you, now."

"Fool," Vegeta lambasted him with a booming voice, stepping forward and renewing the man's sneer in full, "I have no patience for tripe! Now, inform me of the situation at hand or else you'll be left to hang and dry."

"My, my, my, a most audacious threat from one who bears no trace of chakra," He rebutted, hovering his hand flamboyantly near his mouth, "I truly find myself most intrigued by your show of bravado, for surely even the Kyuubi-brat can't be this foolish," He held up two fingers, hissing mockingly at the prince, seemingly causing him to dematerialize.

"…"

Well… that was new.

"Well, that was certainly inte-." An unbelievable monstrous vice-lock grip captured his neck, filling his eyes with horror as his feet left the ground, "Ugh!" His loud cry alerted the worried attention of his subordinates.

"Orochimaru-sama!" A white-haired individual yelled, preparing to rescue the only man, abnormally creepy or not, he saw as a father-figure. And he would've tried too, if the speedy titan hadn't of materialized in front of him with a dangling Orochimaru held casually in his Godzilla grip.

"Do not try my patience!" Vegeta commanded with such authority it drew varying reactions from his audience.

An injured blond-haired woman flinched.

The white-haired young man shrank so suddenly, he fell clumsily on his rear.

A slug shrank back with a pitiful wince.

And lastly, a red-haired young woman in some prison-like pyjamas had an orgasm staring dreamily at Vegeta's scowl.

"Okay!" The white-haired teen said, not wanting to mess with Vegeta.

"So cool!" The white-haired man stared bizarrely as the red-haired young woman pressed herself up against the unbelievably powerful dominant individual, earning herself a look of disgust from the prince, "You're just as cool as Sasuke-kun!"

"Get off of me whore!" Vegeta demanded, sending the young woman to the ground in a heap with a mere tussle of his shoulders.

If it were possible at all, her sauciness didn't actually dissipate like one would've expected it to given Vegeta's harsh, merciless treatment of her, "Oh you're playing really hard to get," She said, flirtatiously fixing the glasses on her face, "I like that. I take it back. You're even cooler than Sasuke!"

"What is wrong with this woman?" Vegeta said, crushing Orochimaru's throat out of sheer, unbridled confusion.

"Come now, big-boy, you know you can't resist my sexiness," She said, slithering up to wrap her arms around Vegeta's neck, or at least she attempted to, and failed by Vegeta quickly side stepping her approach.

"Get back!" He commanded, connecting a punch to her face. Fortunately, he didn't take in her incredibly low durability, with the soft blow, by his standards, he sent at her face, thus he eradicated her being in its entirety, "Pathetic. Can't even stand up to one warm-up blow."

'That was a warm up blow?' The twin ponytailed woman contemplated to herself, feeling her summoned creature crawling behind her. She knew as well as she did this guy wasn't to be trifled with, 'That casually superseded one of my strongest punches.'

"Tsunade-sama," The slug said.

"I know," Was all Tsunade said earnestly in reply.

Nothing else needed to be said.

"Now that… that _nuisance,_" He emphasized with strong venom in his tone, "Is taken care of, tell me the information I require if your life is as of any importance to you, fool." He held up Orochimaru, but the snake-like man could only gag and drool blood, eyes rolling to the back of his head.

"I think you crushed his throat," Tsunade offered calmly, struggling not to cringe when Vegeta turned his scowl to her.

"Figures," He said, punching Orochimaru's body into annihilation, "Weaklings like that never have it in them to last the duration of a warm up let alone a full-blown battle of _true_ warriors."

"I suppose you'll want me to give you a full status report of the current on-going affairs, huh?" She assumed, earning herself confirmation in the form of a sarcastic remark.

"Someone's quite the telepathic."


	22. Vegeta's Dominance of the Naruto Verse 2

The Prince of the Elemental Nations

**Disclaimer: I don't own Akira Toriyama's masterpiece: Dragon Ball Z or Kishimoto's shitwreck: Naruto.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

XxX

**God? More like Fodder**

* * *

><p>"Alright!"<p>

Naruto Uzumaki was not just happy, but ecstatic.

Finally, his bested friend in the whole wide world had just come back to him. Hooray! Okay, ignoring the fact that Sasuke tried to kill him multiple of times throughout the duration of the time they were separated and shown no indication or implications that he ever wanted to be Naruto's friend, they were great friends! Can't you see it! It all makes sense!

With Sasuke finally reinstated into team seven maybe now he could let go of all the angst he had been holding onto. After all, the young boy was clearly a very mentally unfit individual, proven by his disturbing infatuation for his ex-teammate whom never even liked him… at all. Okay, so maybe when they were twelve they had some semblance of "friendship," but that fell apart the instance Sasuke left to train with Orochimaru.

But that was Naruto, the biggest tree-hugging sap to ever walk the face of the Elemental Nations. Hating him did nothing. His bleeding heart bled overwhelming amounts of leniency to all. His horrendous orange outfit epitomized his unrealistic sappy nature.

Of course it was shredded to near pieces from the war, but that beside the point.

"Alright Sasuke! Let's do this!" Naruto chanted, forgetting the fact the rest of the rookies and Sasuke had what one might call a mini altercation, and for good reason.

Sasuke was a mass murder and an international criminal who had completed a multitude of transgressions, but one moment of brief understanding between the two in their childhood was enough for Naruto to overlook all the heinous acts Sasuke committed, even if the solitary Uchiha had tried to bury him six-feet underneath.

Sasuke said nothing. Being that he was the opposite to Naruto's loud mouthed, constant talking demeanour, he was all about business, gripping his sword with intent.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto smiled at the most useless member of team seven, giving the concerned pink-haired beauty a thumbs-up, "We'll take it from here now. You get back in the kitchen and be safe." As he quipped and turned around, he never noticed the look of determination that graced Sakura's features, "Let's hop to it Sasuke." Sasuke was already gone without a word, causing Naruto's eyes to dilate with anger, "Hey, you jerk! Wait for me!"

With a massive leap, Naruto landed beside Sasuke, ready to dig into him with a torrent of whiny words, though stopped by the sound of a pair of feet landing beside him.

"Eh?" Pivoting on his heels, he saw Sakura's look of defiance, "Sakura-chan?"

"You think I'm just some weak woman?" She challenged.

"Well," Naruto shrugged blankly, "Yeah. I do."

This gave Sakura pause. She wasn't expecting that, "Eh?"

"He's right." Sasuke agreed emotionlessly, closing his eyes to channel his inner Ulquiorra, "You would only get in our way, Sakura, just like you used to do. Just stay out of our way."

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura moaned pitifully, gazing at her desired lover longingly.

"Sasuke, you asshole!" Naruto, the emo-boy, raged. Emo did mean overly emotional, something Naruto was in shades, so the title emo fit him well, "Don't be so mean to Sakura-chan!"

"Whatever," He said, turning his emotionless orbs to a massive one-eyed creature surrounded by a massive four sided barrier being held up by the four legendary leaders of his former village, "We got bigger fish to fry instead of dwelling on melodrama, idiot."

Naruto pouted, before giving Sakura an encouraging look. He didn't earn the title **God's Golden Bitch** by being realistic now, "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. You'll do fine. I know you will." Sakura smiled weakly, but Naruto could tell it was forced as the pink-haired beauty's eyes lingered on Sasuke.

"Thanks, Naruto, I will," She said, giving Sasuke a determined expression, 'I'll make YOU acknowledge me Sasuke-_kun_!' She mused, emphasizing the kun-suffix. After all, it wasn't like she could omit it until she bedded her lover, 'Because I know deep down you love me.' She clasped her hands together, 'That's why you tried to kill me, isn't it Sasuke-kun? SO we could be together up in heaven for eternity. I understand.'

"I hate to interrupt your high school drama, folks, but I'm afraid I require your immediate focus!" The real first Hokage said from his position stabilizing the barrier.

"**GWAAOGH**!" The trapped Cyclops beast roared nonsensically.

"You would think for a beast comprised of other intelligent beasts that it would be able to speak," Sasuke said with a sigh, "Guess not. Who comes up with this shit?"

"I understand him!" Naruto yelled, confusion marring his features, "Or it? I'm not sure."

"Naruto, what do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"I understand it. He or it said, "You guys in need of some opponents to show off your abilities in this one moment you'll get to shine? Then I've got just the thing"!" Naruto said, putting on a comically cartoonish voice as Sakura stared bizarrely at him.

"Ptff. Not surprising you could understand that beast idiot. Retards should be able to understand each other fluently after all," Sasuke said in contempt.

"Yeah!" Naruto said impulsively, not thinking. When his tiny brain comprehended the complexity of himself being insulted, he smiled appreciatively, "Aw, shucks. You didn't have to compliment me but thanks, man. You really are like my brother."

"I wasn't complimenting you, you idiot!"

"Love ya too, Sasuke!"

"Gah!"

"You guys!" Hashirama said, bringing everyone's attention to the Cyclops' cell where a mutating show was going on, "I require your assistance here!"

"It's giving birth!" Naruto shouted, hopping off of the ledge he was after Sasuke had done so, followed by Sakura, "Actually, come to think of it I wonder if I change my gender using the sexy jutsu I can gain the right parts to bear Sasuke's babies. After all, it's clear we love each other unconditionally, as shown through my one-sided attachment to him, dattebayo."

"No, you idiot! It's multiplying!" Naruto two point O said, earning himself a bark from his trusty companion whom he was straddled on, "Ain't that right Akamaru?"

"Woof, woof!"

"Besides, Naruto, by that logic wouldn't that make Sasuke-kun and I in love? Since I'm just as obsessed with him as you are," Sakura said, earning herself a scoff from Naruto.

"Please. Sorry, Sakura-chan, but you'll need to get back to me after you've undergone a beating from a pissed black chick, grovelled to the Raikage and hyperventilated for Sasuke's safety before you can compare your obsession with Sasuke to my own."

"Or it's spawning minions to do its bidding," The military genius rationalized in a deep, calm and collected smooth voice, "Oh man there's a myriad of those things, but judging by their cheesy design they shouldn't be too hard to subdue."

"Yay! Me and Sasuke will lead the charge!" Naruto said energetically, only to pause with a blank look on his features when a straining bellow met his ears, "What's that?"

"Argghhhh!"

"Sounds like someone's in a battle of constipation." A robust individual calmly offered, bunching on a packet of crisp.

"You would know about that fa-." A blond-haired narcissist said, but the irrelevant military genius quickly covered her mouth as a sharp glare came to the robust young man's eyes.

"What was that?!" He demanded.

"Uh. Nothing Chouji, nothing at all," The new clan head of the laziest clan in existence said desperately, successfully placating Chouji's temper, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief. He said to the blond in indistinct whispers so only they could hear, "Are you an Idiot Ino? Do you want Chouji to lose his temper? God or not, I'll still whether take it on than an angry Chouji."

"Well then it's a good idea. Make fatso lose his temper to reach transcendence." Ino quipped back in a whisper, but Chouji apparently had super hearing.

"Hey, I'm not fat! Just big-bone-." Before he could finish the rest of his sentence, an immense shockwave suddenly occurred, blasting a myriad of shinobis, including them, and the guards stabilizing the trapped beast's prison away, freeing the one-eyed prisoner, "Aaaaahh!"

"What the hell!" Somehow, before the deathly threatening shockwave occurred, someone had discreetly moved him or herself to stand in front of Sasuke, resulting in the individual landing on top of him in the fierce hurricane-spectacular, "If this is Sak-."

"Hey, Sasuke." Ow, fuck. It was the idiot, or as his fandom counterpart commonly referred to him as, "the dobe", straddling him with a goofy smile latched onto his face, "Your joystick feels good! I could ride ya all day."

Slamming his hand onto Naruto's cheek, Sasuke threw him off of himself without hesitancy, "Aw, you're no fun." Naruto pouted, channelling his inner femininity.

"Idiot." He said, scanning the resulting devastation. Barring the nondescript shinobi, no one of significance had suffered anything beyond unconsciousness. Sure they were fodder, but they were distinguished enough to be protected, so Sasuke ignored them to focus on the figure standing before a cowering god, a blond-haired woman slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "Who... the hell is that?"

"S'up bitches. Where's the party at?" Vegeta asked with a boastful devil-may-care demeanour, dipping into his abridged counterpart.

"Tsunade!" The first Hokage said, obtaining enough importance like his fellow Hokage brethren to stay conscious following the invisible eruption.

Tsunade shot her head up from Vegeta's shoulder, a shocked look on her face at a voice she thought she would never hear again, "Grandfather?"

"Fiend! Unhand her immediately!" Hashirama demanded, rushing forward in a Kuno-emulation.

"Grandfather, no! This man's far too powerful to challenge head on!" Tsunade warned, but it was pointless as Hashirama had already reached Vegeta before she even finished her sentence and was knocked away with a simple backhand, cratering the ground beneath him, "Grandfather!" She looked at Vegeta, "Damn you! You promised me you wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Fool. I said no such thing. I merely allowed you to believe what I allowed you to believe. Do not put words in my mouth," Vegeta said, causing Tsunade to flinch at his harsh tone of voice.

"He... knocked the First Hokage down... with a slap," Sasuke said with wide eyes, stating the obvious.

"Interesting." A smooth voice drawn Vegeta's attention to an armoured individual with long silky and spiky black hair, finding this man dropping beside him. His most noticeable characteristics were his purple ringed pattern eyes that was watching the shrinking one-eyed beast with curiosity, holding his distinguishing fan in a lazy one-handed grip, "The Juubi appears to be actually frightened, how fascinating."

"What? That worm?" Vegeta asked, tossing a thumb in the Juubi's direction, "Please. I've faced better threats in my sleep," His declaration caused Hashirama to gasp.

"Kukukuku," The armoured individual said, doing the stereotypical evil anime/manga laugh, "You've earned my interest. Care to joi-." Before the words could even slip past his lips, his throat was trapped in a crushing grip, making him dilate his eyes, "Ughhh!"

"Fool! Do not even consider suggesting an alliance as if you are my equal!" Vegeta commanded, evoking a scared wince from Naruto.

"Ahhhh! He's got the big-bad by the throat like he's nothing!" Naruto screamed.

"And he moves so fast I doubt I could track him with my sharingan," Sasuke added on, too stupefed to speak in anything but a shocked whisper.

"Madara!" Hashirama shouted for his boyfriend's safety. Naruto, did, after all inherit his personality from Hashirama, which was kind of strange since Naruto made his début first being that he was the main character of his own series, but since Hashirama was older, it only made sense that he would unfortunately pass his personality onto the younger generation. So if Naruto has a hard on for his "rival," so does Hashirama.

Dropping Madara to the ground, Vegeta warned him in a no-nonsense demeanour, "I would advise you to reword your recommendation if your renewed time here holds any value." He chucked Tsunade by Hashirama, making the man hug her thankfully, "And yes, that woman did inform me of your undead status, zombie-boy."

Nursing his previously trapped throat profusely, Madara looked up at Vegeta on his knees, "Did I say alliance? I believe you've misinterpreted me sir, for I meant joining your emperor as one of your subordinates."

"Humph. Sounds more like it." Vegeta said with crossed arms.

"What are you insinuating at sir?" Hashirama asked.

"Fool! Do not make me state the obvious, otherwise the consequences will be unforgiving." Vegeta said in a harsh commanding tone of voice, evoking a wince from Hashirama, "As this pitiful world is in a state of undivided disarray from your "precious Tsunade's" summary, I've concluded it needs a monarch to keep order," Plus, this way his wife could set up shop here to sell her company's technology, "That's where I come in."

"So it'll be like I've achieved my dream of peace all along." Madara rationalized, drawing a cringe from Vegeta.

What kind of villain fought for peace?

What a bleeding heart.

"But, but, but, but that's so wrong!" Naruto said with a wince.

"Depends how you look at it." Vegeta said gruffly, squinting his eyes from a luminescence, "Annoying light."

"The Juubi's fighting back." Madara stated as the Juubi continued to charge up a Bijuu-dama.

"Aaaaah! It's gonna blow!" Naruto screamed.

"Take cover!" Sasuke said.

"Idiots, as if such a puny blast of miniature power could harm me." Vegeta said.

"I think they were referring to themselves," Tsunade offered.

"Whatever," Vegeta scoffed, "Just stands back while I blow this insect to smithereens," The Bijuu-dama left the Juubi's mouth and was immediately bitch-slapped to the sky, dissipating into spiritual particles from the force of the bitch slap.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Unbelievable." Sasuke was the only one who could form a coherent sentence.

Vegeta dematerialized suddenly, appearing in front of the effectively fodderized god, "Pitiful insect." He said, booting it to the sky with a kick before holding out his palm toward the creature, "Big Bang attack!" An orb moulded and condensed with power million times greater than that of a weak Bijuu dama left Vegeta's palm, slamming into the Juubi and carrying it off to the sun where it exploded, "Farewell."

"I'm in the presence of a god," Madara whispered, no strength in his knees.

That was the cue for a masterful, ingenious ass-pu- I mean _plot-twist _to pop up to drag the chapter out.

"**MOMMYYYYYYYYYYYY!**"

Vegeta's people were broken from their stupor by the whine of a fully pitch black-coloured entity, turning to find it charging toward Vegeta with tears in its eyes.

"Black Zetsu?" Madara asked, wondering why his will was calling the recently eradicated Juubi his mom.

"Mommy?" Naruto asked with a scratch of his head.

"**YOU KILLED MY MOMMY! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH PLANNING I DID TO GET THIS FAR! TRICKING MADARA INTO BELIEVING I WAS HIS WILL ALL TO GET MY MOMMY BACK... YOU MONSTER!**" Black Zetsu exclaimed melodramatically, earning himself Madara's contempt as the Uchiha liquidated the mama's boy with a fire jutsu.

"Thanks for saving me the effort of exterminating such a nuisance."

"It was my pleasure my lord."

_And the war was over. When the remaining alliance that wasn't already dead from the Juubi's rampage and Vegeta's explosive shockwave woke up, they agreed without question to live under Vegeta's emperor, under his rules when the walking god demonstrated the power he used to destroy the Juubi without effort by shaking the SMALL planet just by flaring his ki. Peace, even if it was highly forced, had at last arrived to the Elemental Nations. _

_All but one of the shinobi returned to their villages to build a statue of their lord._

The one that was left standing in the ruined battlefield was a hooded figure with his hands jammed into his pockets. He wore the stereotypical outfit all the ninja with the exception of the Kages, zombies, Naruto and Sasuke wore. His most distinguishing accessory was the pair of sunglasses on his eyes.

"If you, the readers, are wondering why I've been left standing here," He said in a monotone voice, "Then the answer is quite simple. The author forgot about me." There was the slightest bit of anger evident in his usual empty, emotionless tone as a bug flew out of his sleeve, "He always forgets about me."


	23. Naruto's Punishment (Bashing)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kishimoto's Naruto or Familiar of Zero.**

**As a wise man once said, 0 Jordinio 0, I don't need to emulate *Naruto: One Man Team* bashing atrocity. It's silly and pointless**

* * *

><p>A deafening explosion echoed out consequently followed by smoke covering the clearing.<p>

"Oh! So that's what that mirror was," The croaky voice of a young man said blithely, lying on the midst of the smoke with his arms crossed over his chest, "I thought it was a portal, but I wasn't sure." He shrugged, "Now I know."

As smoke cleared up, the second-coming of the Sage of Six Paths ran his hand over his now shortened blond hair, thankful he was able to get that trim as a tribute to the Coolest Guy Ever!

Still with his ever present whisker-marks decorating his cheeks, Naruto sported a short-sleeved white t short underneath a long-sleeved orange-collared dress shirt, complemented by a pair of blue jeans and orange sandals on his feet. Of course proudly displaying his affinity to his beloved village was his headband tied on his forehead on an orange cloth instead of the previous black one he had his Konoha-template on before the war.

Naruto's most eye-catching clothing were the bandages that concealed his right arm entirely, not only serving as a reminder to his monumental battle with his best friend but also granting him access to a whole new power entirely.

"Who are you, peasant?"

Casually sitting up, Naruto glanced up to find a head of pink gazing coldly down at him. Although this little girl shared the same hair colour as his sister-in-all-but-blood, her eyes was purple and her shiny hair was wavy and lengthy, reaching her mid back, nothing at all like Sakura's natural hair.

Her garments, from what Naruto could see after a single scan of the clearance, seemed to be the norm around this unknown dimension he had clumsily landed himself in. They comprised of a long black cape behind her shoulders, kept up by a gold button with a star-emblem, a white long-sleeved dress shirt, a short black skirt that didn't even reach her knees, black leggings that covered the majority of her small legs, and black high heels on her feet.

In fact the only difference between uniforms that Naruto could see was the obvious one; the guys wore trousers and the girls wore skirts.

"Name's Uzumaki," The blond started his introduction in a smooth voice, rising to his feet, "Naruto Uzumaki."

A puzzled expression appeared on the petite pink-haired girl's face, "Na-Row-Two, Uzimaky?"

Naruto chortled, folding his arm around his stomach.

"Oi!" Apparently, the little pink-haired girl didn't take kindly to being laughed at because she silenced the impudent blond with a stern glare, "I _won't stand _to be laughed at by my familiar!"

"Oh, I'm sorry miss, please forgive me!" Naruto said hastily, cringing away from Louise's temper, 'Man, she's scary. What would the coolest guy do in this instance? C'mon lord Obito, gimme some ideas here!'

"Humph!" She huffed with disdain and turned to face a tall bald man whom wore a jacket and had a long stick the length of his body, "Professor Colbert, do I really have to have such a simpleton as my familiar? Would it be possible if I attempted to call forth another familiar?"

"Absolutely not." He said firmly.

"Why?"

"Oh Miss Valliere, the Summoning Ritual is sacred and effects the mage's entire life," Colbert explained, "Trying a second time would be a blasphemy for me against the ritual itself," He sent a somewhat stern glance over to the young man who stared blankly at him in return, as if his puny brain couldn't comprehend the situation he was in, "Whether you like it or not this man has been chosen as your familiar and nothing can change that. Finish the ritual."

"With him!?" Louise said with incredulity, pointing at Naruto.

"Yes, or I'll be forced to expel you." He said with finality, causing Louise to moan despondently.

"I have no idea what's going on." Naruto said with crossed arms, a stupid, blank look on his face as a nonchalant Louise approached him, "What is... this familiar you speak of, lady?" For such a small lady she had some strength, proven when she grasped Naruto's hand and pulled him down to her level, "Yikes, lady! No need to pull my arm off!" The Obito-loyalist cringed.

"Shut up! If you wasn't so freaky tall I wouldn't have to, idiot!" She shouted, prompting Naruto to blink.

'Eh. Never heard that one before.' He realized as he tasted lips that would eternally bound him to the little girl as her bitch.


	24. Naruto Urameshi in Black Cat

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Black Cat**

* * *

><p>A distinct sound of a distant explosion going off caught the ears of a spiky, unkempt-haired young man.<p>

"You guys hear that?" Like a cat, he possessed two distinctive golden slits, giving him the option to be either playfully frolic or devilishly threatening when the need arises. His skin was fair, hinting at an inhuman recuperation with such smooth skin.

His unique choice of garments were most interesting, mainly because they painted him more in a fun-loving devilry light. A lengthy white shirt hung past his hips, split at the bottom and the sides, as though he was giving himself more leeway for movability, and was underneath a creatively designed blue jacket that reached his torso. Plastered on either side of his jacket were two pairs of onion rings.

The jacket perfectly complemented his blue trousers, which held one of his most distinguishing accessories, a gun-holster bearing the prized weapon he had become infamous with.

The brown spiky-haired young man's most defining characteristics were the number thirteen tattooed on the left side of his neck in roman numerals, and the cat-like bell proudly displayed around his neck as though he was exclaiming to the heavens above that he was his own man and no one else's.

"What do you mean, Train?" A young blond-haired girl asked, looking at the assassin-turned-sweeper through a pair of winsome pink eyes. Even know her lengthy hair was styled in a ponytail by a black bow, it still cascaded past her shoulders, a testament to its length.

Naturally, she was petite and did not possess much of the womanly features she would when she flourishes. Her hips definitely showed signs of flourishing into a curvaceous figure.

She wore a black dress that reached past her knees, complementing her black hair ribbon, and black boots fitted on her tiny feet. Gracefully, a scarf was wrapped around her neck.

Train Heartnet shifted his observation from the window, to the little girl, feigning surprise for the sole purpose of messing with her, "Whoa, Princess. Ya telling me you really didn't hear that explosion?" He held up his index finger and thumb in the shape of a gun, looking smug, "Guess your surveillance skills aren't as top notch as I initially thought they were. That, or I'm just that damned good."

The dubbed princess frowned in response to Train's mockery of her, "Or maybe you're just delusion," She retorted. To think she was worried about him too. What a joke.

It was made even worse when Train turned her retort back on her with a complimenting thumb, his features morphing to resemble that of a cheeky cat, "Good one princess."

Rage bubbled inside the emotionally-inept girl. Train was really pushing all her buttons tonight, "That wasn't a compliment, idiot!" She said with passive anger, prompting Train to grin in an incredibly shady manner of faux-innocence.

"Ya sure?"

"You were probably just imagining things," An eye-patch clad man said deeply, trying to end the disputation between the two before it escalated any more than it had to. Crops of shoulder-length apple green-hair poked out of the sides of a beige-coloured fedora, also leaving a fringe to hang in between his eyes. A five o clock shadow was situated around his chin.

Matching his fedora was a beige-coloured suit over a purple dress shirt complete with a pink tie. He lit a cigarette to calm his nerves.

Thankfully, Train caught the gist of his offer, allowing the devilry to fade from his countenance. He turned back to the window, crossing a leg over the other one and propping his elbow on the window ledge to rest his chin, "Maybe.

"Maybe it could be our guy," The chain-smoker offered, getting a hum of consideration from Train. Hazel eyes locked seriously with onyx ones, "Eve, are you sure you want to go through with this? Train and I won't think lesser of you if you decide you want to pull out."

To Eve, her mind was already made up. Their target was out killing people, hunting them down like prey as if they were faceless targets in a video game meant to be destroyed to earn points. It turned her stomach upside down.

"Yes. When that old man from earlier was crying, I understood the purpose behind a sweeper's job," The one eyed-man's only visible eye widened in remembrance to the elder who lost his sons to the cruel hands of Gyanza. Train had kindly assured him he would seek the vengeance he felt he was entitled to so he would stop wasting his life away drinking booze at the bar.

"Oh?"

"A sweeper's job is to arrest the bad people and give the victims a reason to stop crying. Isn't it, Sven?"

"Princess," Train whispered breathlessly.

She was growing up right before their eyes.

"I want to help too. Please, let me help."

Then there was nothing more to say on the matter.

They were doing this and taking down Gyanza.

Force of Nature

**C**

**H**

**A**

**P**

**T**

**E**

**R**

Piece of Cake

On the outskirts of the city the previous trio currently resided, a teenage boy was picking himself up from the dirt ground, groaning in both agony and annoyance.

"Gah. Okay, someone needs to tell me what the flying fuck was that?" He bluntly demanded no one in particular, observing his surroundings with a keen eye behind his tinted-sunglasses, "I don't think I'm anywhere near Konoha anymore."

Just a random guess, but it was a good one if the concrete pavement with a yellow line down the middle was any indication to go on.

"What is this?" He asked, eyeing the pavement. He knew what a road looked like. After all, he had walked down them plenty of times in the past with his comrades.

When his ears picked up on the unfamiliar sounds of a machine and an obnoxiously loud horn, he looked its direction, only to be blinded partly by the shine that hit his eyes.

"Man, that's bright!" He said, feeling a strong breeze blow past him, feeling him completely slumped, "Fuck Konoha. I don't think I'm in the Elemental Nations anymore with those things surging around," A massive four-sided travel contraption capable of matching genin-level speed, "Whatever they are."

Naruto Uzumaki, jailer for the strongest Bijuu in Elemental Nations history, had seen lots of wacky devices, occurrences, and techniques in his short ninja career, but travelling machines were certainly not one of them.

His golden hair was still as luminescent as ever, glinting in the darkness of the night. His wide, ocean blue eyes monitored the strange land he had fallen into by some means with wonderment. And of course his distinguished cat-like whisker marks vertically lined his cheeks, three on each side.

He wore an orange dress shirt over a sleeveless white vest, leaving space for his green gem stone to be displayed around his neck. On the back of his shirt lay a distinctive red swirl, almost as significant to the six-styled leaf insignia on a template stuck to an orange cloth tied around his forehead.

His last two pieces of garments were beige pants and a pair of orange sandals fitted on his feet.

"Ahhh!" Naruto sighed with added exasperation, propping one hand on his hip and scratching his hair with the other, "Should head into town and sniff for clues to ascertain my current location and how I can get back to Konoha."

The image of a pink-haired girl flashed through his mind, triggering his conscious into play.

"Sorry, Sakura. Can't get Sasuke back like this. By the looks of things I've been blasted across the globe. He must be long gone by now," Which was a bitter pill to swallow in of itself, if the clenched fist and scrunched face of Naruto was anything to go by, "Fucking Sasuke." He could just feel the immense amount of resentment settle itself cozily within him.

As he took a step in the direction the truck had become from to make his way toward the nearest city, he was suddenly assaulted with a wave of pain, reacquainting him to the still sore wounds he received in his fight with the former solitary Uchiha of Konoha.

"Gah!" He gnashed his teeth to keep from whining out, wrapping an arm around his sore ribs. Hunched over, he lifted up his head, looking vicious, "Damn, it hurts," He growled, forcibly suppressing all the rage in his body, seating himself down grumpily, "…Sasuke. Fuck you. Fuck you to fucking hell."

He positioned himself on his side in a slothful manner, "Might as well just get some shuteye while fuzz-butt gets to work stitching me up," He ignored the raspy, wrathful cry of 'You think you're the boss?' in his head to continue on with his plans, "I can start snooping around for info tomorrow, no biggie."

* * *

><p>He really wished it was no biggie.<p>

Waking up in the afternoon recuperated enough to start gathering information to ascertain his whereabouts and devise the best way to get back to Konoha Naruto was once again left befuddled by the completely deserted state of the city. Not a soul that wasn't him traversed the streets.

It was so lifeless a dust ball comprised of wind could've passed by and been perfectly audible, making the eerie vacant city an embodiment of the Wild-West, barring the fact it had similar futuristic devices to one Naruto had seen fly by earlier, parked around in different shapes and sizes. Some richly designed and others not so richly designed, to put it in nice terms.

The only thing Naruto discovered when he knocked a few doors to attempt to gather information anyway was that the city wasn't actually abandoned. All of the residents just happened to seclude themselves within the sanctuary of their homes as though they were hiding from the plague.

At least that was what Naruto could ascertain from their frightened responses after he knocked politely, or impolitely – depending on his mood – on their doors.

Fortunately, fate smiled on him in the form of a blond-haired girl walking seemingly without purpose and to nowhere in particular.

"Finnnnnally," Naruto mumbled, drawing it out to emphasis his frustration, sauntering toward the girl with his hands sheathed in his pockets, "Been wandering around aimlessly for three fucking hours now. About damned time the big guy sitting upstairs on his throne decided to throw me a bone if you ask me."

He also was not ignorant to the presence of the two individuals concealed out of sight, but still suspiciously close to the girl, 'Must be using her as bait to lure out the jerk keeping folks sequestered in their houses,' The sunglasses-clad boy rationalized.

"Svenny, you seeing this kid?" Train asked, communicating with his partner-in-bounty hunting through the walkie-talkie in his hand, his voice laced with bizarre scepticism.

"Yeah," Sven confirmed with a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek, deciding to ignore Train's jibe at his name just this once, "Idiot. What's he going? Gyanza could appear at anytime. We gotta get him out of there."

"Na."

"What?"

"I say let him interact with the Princess," Train said, elucidating further with a cheery, light-hearted grin on his features, "Who knows, it just might turn out he's a match for our little Princess. Then we can badger him to make sure he has her best interests at heart. You can be the strict, uncool dad. I'll be the cool, lenient uncle."

"Train!" Sven said harshly, "Can't you be serious for once?"

"Relax~," Although his voice was scarce of the jest that was laced in it previously, it brimmed with overwhelming confidence that told Sven everything would be alright, "Don't worry. The kid will be fine. I mean, just look at his composure. Kid's in complete control of the situation," He laughed heartily, not being able to help himself. They were breeding their apples younger and younger if even youths in Eve's age group could be so deadly serious, "And the scary part is, I don't think its stemmed from ignorance either. He looks too cool for that to be the case."

A scowl of worry decorated Sven's countenance as he watched the equally blond as Eve boy casually approach the aforementioned girl, getting ready to tap her on the shoulder. He had to confess, there was an element of truth behind Train's words. The teen walked with a swagger in his step that said he could accomplish anything.

Then again… "You idiot. He's a teenager. They always think they're hot stuff."

"Hey, if things get dicey then we'll get both him and the Princess outta there, right?"

"Right."

"Hey, lady," Naruto said with a soft tap on Eve's shoulder, drawing a flinch from her before she immediately rounded on him with a look of wonderment on her pretty face, "My bad," He pushed his sunglasses with his index finger, masking his embarrassment with cool stoicism, "But I'm lost, and well," He threw his arms out, "Long story short, I need to know where I am."

"You shouldn't be here," Eve said once she got her bearings in order, glancing up at the taller boy with a face of determination, though she couldn't help but wonder how he could mask his footsteps so stealthily to the extent that she didn't even hear his approach, 'He snuck up on me without my notice. I didn't even hear him make a sound.'

Instead of a blank look of curiosity familiar to what Eve would've expected from a normal civilian she told shouldn't be in a place meant for civilization, the boy before her smirked, making her widen her eyes with his mocking question, "Really now? Okay, I'll bite me. Enlighten me as to why I'm not authorized to be here at this present moment of time."

'What the hell?' Sven felt mentally slugged in the jaw at the implications of the kid's arrogance as he rationalized them, 'He's either aware of Gyanza's existence or, worst-case scenario, he's working with Gyanza, though the latter seems unlikely going by the fact Gyanza's been killing every child within his radar.'

Eve felt breathless, "Are you with the-?"

"With the enemy? No, I'm not," Naruto answered, sensing what Eve was going to ask. That wasn't the only thing he was sensing either, "Though I have sussed out your adversary while we've been here talking," While Eve eyed him in amazement, the eyes of Train and Sven widened. They were further thrown for a hoop when Naruto seemingly called out to Gyanza, "Hey, stalker! Get your ass up here! I know you're down there!"

"What! Gyanza's down under!" Sven yelled, following the foot of the blond-haired boy. The teen didn't even flinch despite his yell, merely nodding his head while sticking a thumb in his direction, earning himself an impressed look from Train, 'Did he know we were here all along?'

Sven would have to remember to store that question in the memory file of his brain for later, because right now he was forced to put his game face on from the ground uplifting to put a giant menacing shadow over the two teens, eliciting a cringe from the female of the two.

"Whoa!" Train said in shock.

"Heh," A dark-skinned man with a large muscled structure let out a snort of amusement from the ruins, a sadistic smirk of insanity engraved onto his face. Bush-styled brown hair sat on his head, complementing his goatee and accentuating his demented lighter brown eyes.

An open sleeveless red vest left plenty of space for him to arrogantly flex his super-sized muscles, nicely accentuating his black pants and black shoes fitted on his feet.

"Gyanza!"

"You could detect my presence, could you?" He teased, licking his lips as he drank in the fear of the blond-haired girl, "I'm gonna enjoy seeing you squirm in pain before I crush you in these big boys."

"Yeah, well," Naruto shrugged, "That's not on the agenda. So how's about you do us all a favour and go fuck off before I knock ya down a peg or a dozen?"

"Day-um!~ You're sassy!" Train complimented Naruto, whipping out his weapon of choice that got a raised eyebrow from the otherwise indifferent teen.

"Gee. Thanks," Naruto said sarcastically, infuriating Gyanza.

"Little shit!" He roared, diving down to grab Naruto and Eve, much to Sven's horror.

"Eve!" Sven shouted, only to be knocked back into a stupor by the evasion of Naruto. It consisted of him wrapping an arm around Eve's wrist, and, with an unbelievable leap clearly done by someone massively super-powered, he soared to the sky like a high-flying monkey, leaving Sven and Gyanza speeches, "What the hell?"

"Whoa!~" Train drawled out in amazement, feeling undeniably chuffed he was right in his assumptions of the teen, "Heh, knew the kid had in him."

"Wow," Eve said with childlike wonderment, loving the sensation of forcefully going against gravity to sail through the air, "Are we flying?"

"Naw. I wish I could fly, though." Naruto grinned, throwing Eve above his head to form a criss-cross sign with his hands. Channelling his chakra, a poof of smoke appeared beside him.

"What!?" Sven yelled, mirroring Gyanza's look of befuddlement stemmed from an exact copy of the high-flying teen appearing out of nowhere to jump on his head, using it as leverage to soar to Eve and situate her in its arms, "Just what the hell is this kid?"

"Don't know either, but hey, I'm not gonna look a gift's horse in the mouth," Train offered insouciantly, performing a skillful roll and ending up beside the slacked-jawed Sven. With barely a second passing his gun was targeted at Gyanza's head and three snap shots were fired, "He saved the Princess from muscle head's claws after all." He winced in annoyance when said muscle head deflected his bullets away with his bulky arm, "Aw, he blocked 'em."

"Fool! Do you think if mere bullets could penetrate these bad boys I would be slaughtering pigs left and right!?" Gyanza bragged wildly, eyes flashing with murder as they locked on to Sven, "_You!_"

"Hey, fucker! Did ya forget about someone?"

"Eh?" Gyanza said unintelligently, widening his eyes in excitement at the blond boy diving toward him with a glowing blue orb on his hand, "You fool! Nothing can penetrate my enhance muscles! You're just diving to your death!"

Oh, where was a time-machine when a braggart needed one to go back in time and just shut up. Gyanza would like one. The moment Naruto's orb connected with his chest he felt as though his very insides were assaulted by a multitude of sharp knifes exploding upon impact. The power of the young warrior's orb-blast forced him to the ground.

Seeing as the alleyway they happened to reside in was rather small it was no surprise to see the two buildings caught up in the radius of the explosion, slowly taking their time to plummet to the ground as Train and Sven were fortunately blown several feet down the alleyway.

When the mini explosion subsided shortly afterward the two bounty hunting partners picked themselves up into sitting positions with groans of agony, finding their view of the force of nature obscured partly by the smoke, though it wasn't hard to miss the massive chunks of stones scattered around them from the collapsed buildings.

"Man, some power," Train trembled slightly, not sure whether to feel relieved or frightened to see the teen's clone dropping beside him with the nicknamed Princess in its arms. He had such power Train wasn't sure if he could beat him with his archenemy and deceased friend backing him up, "He's like a walking tank!"

"There's no two ways about it. That kid is a force of nature."


	25. The Stoic Ichigo

**Chapter One**

**One Tough Nut To Crack**

Who would've thought this High School punk would rip through space and time itself, and end up in a completely different world. It had all started against Aizen. Sosuke Aizen had given Ichigo the chance to evolve, to move onto a higher platform. He wanted Ichigo to at least reach the level of that of a three-dimensional being, like he was. Aizen needed a challenge. He was like a deadly saiyan that could not be sated with just storming up to the royal palace to kill the spirit king without at least testing his powers out on the so-called saviour of the world first. Aizen's arrogance was knocked down a peg when Ichigo proved to be almost too formidable even for him. In a desperate bid to keep up with Ichigo, Aizen demanded the hogyoku give him more power.

With the boost of power the hogyoku gave him Aizen fired a powerful energy beam at Ichigo who countered with his signature move Getsuga Tenshou. Both clashed violently in the centre and created an otherworldly power in the shape of a sphere that took Ichigo away from his home and to the dimension he now found himself ensnared in.

His family and friends looked as good as fucked.

One year had passed.

One year since the stoic one awoke to find himself in a completely different setting to the one he had come to know as home. The structure of the buildings was entirely different. They looked smaller but also looked a lot more colourful than the ones from the stoic orange haired warrior's world.

When his eyes first glanced at his surroundings he realized his arms and legs were chained up and that he was in a dark room known as something called an interrogation room in a village known as Konoha.

The stoic teenager wanted to know first and foremost were his dear sisters alright, but opted not to ask these people that. He honestly doubted that the people of this world knew anything of his origins.

They demanded to know why a mind reader of theirs could not pierce his mind, to which he only shrugged and answered, "I apologize. I have no memory of what happened previously."

Needless to say, that wasn't the right answer.

The next thing the boy endured was the torture of a scary looking tall man with scars all over his face and a bandana with a leaf symbol engraved into it. Every one of these 'shinobi' had those leaf symbols embedded into their headbands. They somewhat reminded the boy of a certain 2nd diversion squad within the soul society.

The man, whose called himself Ibiki, persistently tried to break the emotionless boy down with the most sadistic threats that would've made any other man that wasn't the stoic one whimper in fear for those terrifying life-scarring events to never happen to them. Ever.

But the boy stoically took it all and even felt asleep on Ibiki.

Even as the Shinobi desperately tried to keep the stoic man awake by leaving water to drop onto his head and even refused to give him food the man endured it all without a hint of emotion on his face. They couldn't even tell whether he was starving or not.

He would not break.

…Just as much as he would not relinquish his hold on that thin black blade with a square-like design as its hilt and chains wrapped around it and the man's right arm, as if the blade and the man were one in the same. They were like two pieces of the same puzzle that couldn't be complete without the other.

Just how powerful was that orange spiky haired man wearing the tattered black shihakusho as if he had just gotten out of a tremendous fight.

_The Stoic Samurai_

_Chapter One: One Tough Nut To Crack_

An old man with liver spots on his face and grey hair at the sides of his head sat at a desk wearing a red and white kimono suit with a triangle shaped hat on his head. His name was Hiruzen Sarutobi and he was the Sandaime Hokage of the village that held the mysterious orange haired man 'prisoner'.

Well… he was Hokage once again.

The reason for that was because last year Hiruzen selected a new Hokage in the hopes of retiring to that luxurious life with his wife who was unfortunately no longer with him.

It was all because of a masked man who located the Kyuubi no Yoko (nine-tailed fox) and commanded it to attack Konoha on the convenient time that the Yondaime Hokage at the time, Minato Namikaze, was out of the village overseeing his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, giving childbirth to their son, Naruto Uzumaki.

It was something of a ritual ceremony within Kushina's clan that their babies were born in a cave so their children may be blessed with good fortune.

It was ironic that tragically struck the Uzumaki-family that night. Reason being was because after Minato had gotten wind of the attack of the Kyuubi no Yoko, he immediately flashed over to Konoha with his patented Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique).

With the help of a giant toad summoned up by the golden haired wonder, Minato was able to teleport himself and the Kyuubi away from Konohagakure.

They didn't know what transpired but they could tell it wasn't good. A very angry Kushina who used that rage as a mask to hide her sadness stormed up to the Hokage and his men before they could rush off and insist lord Minato-sama in his endless struggle to subdue the mighty Kyuubi no Yoko.

What Kushina told them shell-shocked them to beyond belief.

And the truth was confirmed once Hiruzen and his men arrived at the scene of the Bijuu-dama (tailed-beast bomb) exploding in a fiery explosion. The little bundle of joy laid on the ground with his father's motionless body next to him, Minato's pinkie finger bonelessly intertwined with Naruto's.

They were utterly heartbroken. Minato honourably sacrificed his life to seal the Kyuubi inside of himself and baby Naruto's body, if the note he had left behind was any indication.

It was.

And even the bizarreness didn't stop there.

"I say we execute that enigma who you have chained up in the basement." A black spiky haired old man advised to Hiruzen and two other old people wearing a white kimono, a black robe over the top of the white kimono, and a wooden walking stick in his hand.

He was Danzo Shimura, Shinobi no Yami (The darkness of Shinobi).

Hiruzen frowned, "He's an unarmed twenty year old man by the looks of it Danzo."

"An unarmed twenty year old who won't let go of his blade no matter how hard we try to pry it from him." Danzo returned dryly, making Hiruzen's frown deepen, "Keep in mind it's been a year, has it not? And the boy's yet to die from dehydration. Strange? I think so."

"I agree with Danzo." Another tan-skinned man spoke up with grey (old man-style) hair and glasses on his face. He wore a dark brown kimono, and sandals, "He could be surviving this long in the hopes of gaining our trust to kidnap the Jinchuuriki-boy."

"Now, now, Homura, Danzo, let's not get too ahead of ourselves." An elderly woman insisted in a calm manner and with her grey hair done up in a single bun. Hiruzen smiled lightly at the elderly woman who wore ear-rings, a dark green kimono dress, a white scarf, and geta sandals on her feet. "Perhaps the boy could be of use to us. He doesn't seem overly bitter towards any of us."

The woman's eyes seemed permanently closed.

"Perhaps," Danzo droned calmly, "The condition he was when he first appeared in Konoha makes me believe he was in a battle. But when interrogated the man's mental defences did not falter in the slightest. Maybe it would be for the best if he were handed over to me. I'm sure I could break through his defences."

"You're not getting another child to turn into your puppet Danzo." Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at Danzo, but Danzo's poker face held true.

"Then what do you supposed we do with him?" Danzo questioned.

Hiruzen reached into his drawer and pulled out a pipe before lighting it up and inhaling tobacco smoke from it. He then exhaled calmly, "I suppose we allow him to live among us under the careful eye of the ANBU until he can be trusted."

"Is that wise Hiruzen?" Homura spoke up incredulously, "There's no telling of the consequences if he were to be allowed to live in the leaf village."

Hiruzen hummed in agreement with Homura, "That's a very verified point. However I'm going to go with my gut on this one. The reason being is the man has been in there for one year, has not once given us any information on where he came from, and even endured Inoichi's psychological treatment on his mind. He could prove to be a most valuable asset if given the chance."

"I hope you know what you're doing Hiruzen." Danzo warned, turning around to leave Hiruzen's office, "Because for all we know the man could be feigning ignorance in order to get close to any confidential issues he could use against us."

"Point made Danzo." Hiruzen agreed impassively, smoking more of his pipe, "It's why I've decided the ANBU'll shadow the man until he proves he's trustworthy." Danzo nodded reluctantly, Hiruzen was the Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi) after all. His judgement should be trusted to some extent.

XxX

(Outside of Konoha)

It was a bright sunny day within Konohagakure no Sato. The huge monument was built behind the hokage tower which kids rushed over to so they could attend the academy located next to the Hokage's tower. It was as if the four faces of the pervious hokages were built behind the village so they could watch over the village even in death.

Those faces were inspirational to many young ninja becoming what they were today.

The peace was briefly disturbed by the sound of a crying baby being carried towards the hokage's tower by his mother, "Okay, Naruto-chan, mommy's going to feed you after she makes a visit to hokage-sama, dattebane!"

The woman was absolutely stunning! She had long gorgeous crimson red hair falling to her lower back. She wore a white t shirt underneath a sleeveless long baby blue dress that emphasized her womanly-hourglass figure. Over that she had on a pink blouse. And her breasts were a modest DD-cup.

This woman was Kushina Uzumaki. She was the wife of the Yondaime hokage who died sacrificing his life for the sake of Konohagakure. Right now Kushina was carrying baby Naruto, trying to soothe him by rubbing his little back consolingly.

Baby Naruto always reminded Kushina of her husband Minato since he had the exact same bright blond spiky hair and shining blue eyes looking at the world in fasciation. Just like his dad.

"Mommy's not going anywhere, Naruto-chan. She's gonna watch you be as strong as your father." Kushina assured baby Naruto who wore bright orange coloured dungarees over a bright yellow t shirt with orange sandals on his little feet. His most distinctive trait was the three whisker-marks on each of his cheeks.

No one knew why though, except for Kushina and the Sandaime hokage.

That was for the best. The last thing Kushina wanted was for her son to be feared for what he was. She did not want Naruto to become what his father made him. She still held a slight resentment towards Minato for doing that, but she could understand why he did it. There was no way to defeat the Kyuubi without doing what Minato did.

Kushina let out a sigh, "C'mon Naruto-chan, let's get mommy resigned. Then I'll feed ya, okay, sweetie. That's a promise, dattebane!"

xXx

(Torture Chamber)

'Ichigo… how long do you plan on staying here?'

A calm masculine voice spoke within the chained up orange haired man's head.

The stoic orange haired man merely opened up his closed eyes, "Is there a way back home old man?"

The rhetorical question left the old man within his head speechless as the cold air penetrated the man's skin.

The man eventually let out a sigh, "I'm afraid to inform you that Aizen may've very well-."

"I'm not that naive old man." The stoic one interrupted the old man with his facial expression never changing. "I've stayed within this chamber for a year now, of my own free will."

The way that man in the trench coat explained it left the orange haired man wondering would they chase after him if he were to break out and leave altogether. He could do so if he pleased. But he wasn't a killer; he would not want to have to remorselessly slaughter the innocent shinobi just for doing their job.

Shinobi – konoha – Chakra – Hidden Villages – Missing ninjas - These were the things the interrogator attempted to probe from Ichigo's mind. They wanted to know what village he was allied to. It turned out that there was more than just one in this strange world. That made sense to the stoic warrior.

He stretched out his senses and could feel small, medium or huge amounts of reiryoku flowing through the veins of many, depending on the person of course. Some were as strong as Chad and the other humans with special powers in his own world, some reached the level of a fifth seat, some were as strong as a vice-captain and very few could be considered captain-classed shinobi.

He figured those were the ones that led their respective villages. It was something called a kage or whatever the man babbled on about.

Oddly enough the orange haired man felt huge masses of reiatsu assembled together to form something. Was it a beast he sensed? These masses of energy did not feel as strong as Ichigo, but they were a lot stronger than the humans from his own world. On the contrary a lot of them were captain-level.

Even still, those huge concentrated beings paled in comparison to old man Yamamoto and to Aizen.

This was something Ichigo and his zanpakuto, Zangetsu, had discussed every now and again. Those nine concentrated beings of Chakra. Just what were they and why did they feel as if they were shoved into a human being? At least a few were. It was weird.

Spontaneously, light hit the orange haired man's face. He merely tilted his head upward to see an old man in white robes with a triangle shaped hat on his head walking into the chamber with three people with animal-like masks on their faces by his side in a protective manner.

Hiruzen reached Ichigo before speaking up, "So, my boy, are you ready to leave this place?"

"Are you offering me freedom?" Ichigo asked stoically.

Hiruzen smiled kindly, "Yes. You've served your time remarkably; it would be quite treacherous of me to leave you chained up here for the rest of your life."

"I appreciate that old man." Ichigo breathed out before breaking one of the chains that held him up, putting the ANBU on-guard who quickly drew their swords and held them at Ichigo, "My apologises." Ichigo broke the other chain, freeing himself, "It's been forever since I've last stretched out my arms." Ichigo rubbed his wrists, his black sword held up.

The ANBU looked towards the Hokage as if asking permission to attack. Hiruzen calmly raised his hand, ordering them to stand down, "Hmm. That's quite the strength you have. Tell me… if you could've escaped all of this time why is that you chose to stay chained up."

Ichigo graced Hiruzen with a solid gaze, "You aren't a threat. No one here is. Thus I saw no reason to raise my sword against you. That is all." He had his code of honour. That code was simply to annihilate all threats to him and his love ones.

"Just how powerful are you anyway?" One of the ANBU asked curiously, her voice was feminine and her purple hair fell to her back as she wore a cat-mask on her face to conceal her identity, "You've endured the most brutal sadistic torture program I've ever seen. Psychologically, you should be a wrack."

"I would rather not toot my own horn by answering that question." The young girl pouted at Ichigo before she bared witness to something truly amazing to her and the others that weren't Ichigo. His sword morphed and grew comprehensively in size. It was now in a shape of a shark tooth with one side of the sword being silver and other side being black.

"What are you doing young one?" Hiruzen questioned seriously.

"Relaxing." That was Ichigo's one reply before sheathing his now giant sword onto his back. He sauntered forward and did not stop even as the ANBU passed their swords into his necks, causing sparks to fly between their blades and his neck as if they weapons had met steel rather than skin.

"Hal-!"

"It's okay, let him go." Hiruzen commanded. This man was far more powerful than he looked alright. The ANBU did as told but quickly followed after the hokage once he began following Ichigo out of the chamber and into the open that was the hallway of the hokage's tower.

"How did you make your sword minimize in size young man?" Hiruzen asked.

"I powered down." Ichigo answered.

"It seems like you did quite the opposite." Hiruzen said.

"No. I concentrate my power within my blade. It's size combined with the intensity allow me to move at an extremely high level of speed. It's my ability." Ichigo explained, causing the ANBU to shallow lumps down their throats involuntarily.

Hiruzen's facial features betrayed none of his thoughts, "That's quite the interesting ability you have young man. What would you say if I offered you a place among our ranks here in Konohagakure? You could do a lot of good."

"I'll sleep on that one." Ichigo groused.

"Understandable." Hiruzen mumbled sagely, "There is no rush. As a safety precaution these ANBU shall trail you from the shadows if you chose to stay within our little village. They'll evade your personal space though."

Ichigo nodded his head in understanding.

"May I get your name young man?" Hiruzen asked.

"Ichigo… Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo introduced himself stoically.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi. And I'm sure you already know this from Ibiki but I'm the hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. It's a pleasure to meet you Ichigo, I hope the future brings us both good fortunate." Hiruzen stated with a good-natured smile on his face.

"I do hope so too, old man." The ever stoic Kurosaki murmured.

Hiruzen hummed at that before he led Ichigo to his office, "Now we'll need to set you up with an accommodation for your stay within Konoha."

Ichigo waved his hand dismissively, "There's really no need for you to go through all of that trouble old man."

Hiruzen sat on his chair, "Nonsense." Hiruzen brushed off Ichigo's concerns, "It's of no trouble my boy. That's unless you want to sleep on the streets." Ichigo had no answer to that. Hiruzen took it as clarification of him staying in Konoha, "Then it's settled my boy, we'll sort y-."

The sound of a baby crying cut off Hiruzen, making him raise an eyebrow before a smile came to his face at the sight of Kushina walking in carrying baby Naruto in her arms, "Sorry about the noise lord hokage-sama. Naruto-chan won't stop crying."

"It's of no concern Kushina-chan. I was merely getting Ichigo-kun settled in." Hiruzen smiled and Kushina raised an eyebrow.

"Ichigo?" Kushina looked at the tall orange haired man stoically standing in front of the hokage's desk and blushed a bit at his huge muscles showing clearly due to his tattered black shihakusho, "Sorry for interrupting sir, my son's feeling hungry so I tried to rush in here to resign from my duties as a ninja to tend to his needs."

"No problem." Ichigo assured. Ichigo looked at Naruto. He could sense one of the huge masses of chakra within Naruto. The strongest one to be more precise. But then again it was always in Konoha. It was just that it was strange to find it locked within a small blond haired baby.

Hiruzen lifted an eyebrow, "You're resigning Kushina-chan?"

Kushina nodded her head affirmatively, "Yeah, someone needs to be around to take care of this little guy, dattebane! I want to be there for my son 24/7!"

Hiruzen nodded his head sadly; the loss of Kushina was a major blow indeed. He was well aware of the fact that Kushina might've withdrawn from her ninja duties the moment she got pregnant with baby Naruto, but he was optimistic that she would somehow be able to balance her motherly duties with her ninja ones.

Minato dying was basically the final nail in the coffin for Kushina. She was obviously afraid of dying on a mission and leaving her son alone. This was understandable.

"Very well Kushina-chan." Hiruzen sighed heavily, pulling out a form from his desk before sliding it over to Kushina, "Please sign this form and you'll be officially resigned as a ninja of Konohagakure no Sato."

Kushina nodded her head before turning to Ichigo, "So where did you come from? Did lord Hiruzen-sama request of you specifically to live here in Konoha?" She seemed really excited about that possible fact.

"No. I have no memory of how I ended up here." Ichigo explained and Kushina gave him an incredulous look.

"It's true." Hiruzen confirmed. "Ichigo-kun arrived here in… unexpected circumstances. He's been living within the torture chamber for a year now, but because he's been deemed not a threat to the village he's been allowed out under probation."

Kushina's eyes widened as she stared at Ichigo like she had seen a ghost. In a sense she could somewhat relate to Ichigo, since she too was brought over from her own village to be a ninja of Konohagakure. It wasn't exactly the same but still Kushina felt a little similar to Ichigo.

"Where will you live Ichigo?" Kushina questioned, receiving a shrug from Ichigo. Kushina placed her finger on her chin and droned in a thoughtful manner, 'I could always take him in. He's a man and my little Naruto-chan needs a father-figure in his life.' Kushina contemplated.

As if reading the red-haired woman's thoughts, Hiruzen guessed, "I believe Kushina-chan wants to offer you a place to live Ichigo-kun."

Ichigo did not blink. "That's not necessary."

"Don't be a silly, billy!" Kushina smiled widely, rocking baby Naruto in her arms, "You don't want to sleep on the streets, dattebane!" Kushina insisted. "Besides, I have more than enough room for the both of us."

"You should accept her offer, Ichigo." Zangetsu urged Ichigo, "We don't know where we are. We have no knowledge of this world. Maybe being with that woman would shed some light on the world we now find ourselves in. It's only natural that you find your way."

'I guess so.' Ichigo admitted to his zanpakuto spirit before being rudely brought of his thoughts by a hand repeatedly tapping the side of his face.

"Hello, is anyone in there?" Kushina asked before she found her hand ensnared in the orange haired man's massive hand. She had to bite her top lip to suppress a moan as Ichigo's thumb gently caressed her hand before letting it go.

"I accept." Kushina blinked in a confused manner at Ichigo, "If you're still offering a place to stay, I accept." Ichigo accepted, causing Kushina to gasp in realization.

"That's terrific dattebane!" Kushina cheered and shoved baby Naruto in Ichigo's arms. Baby Naruto stopped crying and tilted his head to the side, staring at the stoic samurai blankly, "You won't regret it Ichigo!" Ichigo only nodded before Kushina turned towards the desk with a bright smile on her face.

Hiruzen smiled warmly while watching Kushina contently complete the form to resign as a ninja of Konoha, "I hope all goes well for you two from now on." Kushina nodded her head and sauntered over to Ichigo before leading him towards the door, "And Ichigo. I hope you consider becoming a ninja of konoha my boy."

"Will do." Ichigo murmured loud enough to be heard before he followed Kushina out of the hokage's tower with baby Naruto his arms.

Hiruzen sat back on his chair and sighed leisurely, "I have a good feeling about that boy, but even still." He looked at the ANBU stationed in the room, giving them a nod to let them know to hop to the rooftops and watch Ichigo from the shadows, "I sure hope I'm right about you Ichigo-kun."

XxX

Kushina and Ichigo were sauntering throughout the streets of Konoha with Ichigo still carrying baby Naruto in his arms. Kushina quickly realized that Ichigo was a man of very few words, but the words that did come out of his mouth were often respectable.

Kushina had a weird feeling in the pit of her gut that Ichigo was using that stoic shell of his so he wouldn't have to face his own emotions. Maybe that was due to the fact she had lost her precious people and used to act like a juvenile delinquent so she wouldn't have to feel alone in the village that once felt foreign to her.

When they left the hokage's tower Kushina showed him the hokage monument and the face of her deceased husband. She was grateful to Ichigo for not asking what happened. She still wasn't sure if she could talk about it completely, and not break down.

During the walk to Kushina's apartment the people (mainly the girls) would often stare at Ichigo, since he carried a huge sword on his back and his muscles were showing. That was something that had the girls ogling him, not that it bothered Ichigo, he was never one for girls anyway.

"Here we are." Kushina declared brightly, standing in front of a small apartment. "I'm sorry that it's not something overly huge. Ya' know, I'm just your average girl dattebane!"

"It's fine." Ichigo assured her before Kushina opened the door and walked in.

"I hope the couch won't be too much of a hassle for you to sleep on. I already set up the spare room as Naruto-chan's bedroom with the help of a friend of mine." Kushina smiled at baby Naruto sleeping soundly in Ichigo's arms, 'Ichigo's really good with kids.'

"No gripes from me." Ichigo said and Kushina smiled before her and Ichigo's stomachs growled loudly, "Could do with some food though."

Kushina blushed, "Me too dattebane!" Kushina prepared to stroll off into the kitchen, "Does ramen sound alright to you Ichigo-san?"

"It's not my cup of tea." Ichigo admitted. He then felt an ominous aura in the air, making him turn a impassive gaze at Kushina's form to see a glowing purple aura shrouding her while her beautiful long red hair hovered in the air and separated, taking on the form of nine-tails.

"What's wrong with ramen?" Kushina asked dangerously.

"Calm down." Ichigo recommended calmly, making Kushina widen her eyes, "I never said anything for wrong with it. I just said it's not my cup of tea."

Kushina's heart was beating against her chest. 'He didn't give in to me…! He wasn't scared of me!' That truly impressed Kushina. Most men would cower in fear once Kushina released her 'aura' on them. Ichigo, however, stared it down as if he could defeat her without breaking a sweat. 'He's so cool! Dattebane! I'm gonna have to fight him soon enough!'

"I can make us something else to eat Ichigo-kun." Kushina coughed to recompose herself, receiving a shrug from Ichigo before he watched Kushina saunter off to the kitchen before poking her head around the corner, "Oh, and Ichigo-kun, I'm gonna have to do something about your hair! And your clothes are a tattered mess too, I'll stop by the shop tomorrow and get you some new ones!"

Ichigo droned stoically, accepting that since the bangs of his orange hair covered his eyes and his shihakusho was torn to shreds.

xXx

(Two Hours Later)

Kushina and Ichigo sat around the dinner table eating a couple of delicious bowls of chicken curry. Ichigo would've to admit this woman could cook real well. She could give his baby sister, Yuzu, a run for her money with cooking like this.

"So tell me Ichigo. How'd your clothes end up like that? Were you in a fight for your country? You kind of remind me of those samurai in the Tetsu no Kuni (land of iron)." Kushina stated, feeding baby Naruto who sat in a high chair some baby food.

"I am a samurai. Just not from the place you're thinking of." Ichigo calmly lied to Kushina, eating his curry while Zangetsu rested at his side.

"Well I figured you were at least that much with that massive sword of yours." Kushina pointed out.

"It does the job," Ichigo assured her.

"I bet it does, Ichigo-kun." Kushina giggled. "So you have no memory of where you came from then?" Kushina asked and Ichigo shook his head, "That's a shame Ichigo-kun. You're kind of like a foreigner like I was when I first arrived here." Ichigo nodded his head to show that he was listening, "I guess one could say I couldn't bear to see a fellow foreigner out on the streets, dattebane!"

"Thank you." Ichigo spoke up, causing Kushina to blink. "You didn't have to do this for me."

"Oh no, it's okay, really!" Kushina assured him frantically, "I like helping people anyway, dattebane!" Ichigo nodded his head simply, this woman really was a kind soul. She was what he needed at this moment of time. The stoic warrior stood up and walked over to Kushina before placing his hand over hers, causing her to blush from the contact.

"I'm in your debt… Kushina."


	26. The Stoic Ichigo 2

**Chapter Two**

**Hatred Shrouds the Despised Clan**

The ever cheerful Kushina was traversing through the busy streets of Konoha carrying a few bags of shopping. Namely the new clothes she bought (brought) for Ichigo and a pair of scissors since she lost her other ones and needed to buy some new ones, as Ichigo's hair was looking like a mess.

"I hope Ichigo-kun'll like the meal I'm cooking tonight." Kushina droned to herself. The man didn't seem too fussed with what he ate. On the contrary Kushina thought that the orange haired man thought her cooking was okay, but that could be counted for his lack of personality.

This was something that Kushina was dying to find out. The way she looked at it Ichigo had obviously experienced an emotional trauma so great it caused him to subconsciously encase himself in an impassive shell so he wouldn't have to deal with the burden of whatever caused him the pain.

That was something she wanted to fix. She desired to make the orange haired man feel some sort of emotion. He did touch her hand out of gratitude. So maybe all hope wasn't lost. If she just showed that she was there for him then he would open up and show his emotions, if only slightly.

Kushina sighed, 'Well, at least my little Naruto-chan likes Ichigo-kun.' He wasn't crying that much, so that was a start. The man had a calm aura about him that seemed to relax anyone within its presence. Even Kushina herself could not faze him when he declared ramen wasn't exactly his thing.

Kushina frowned at that. She was going to make Ichigo love ramen whether he liked it or not goddamn it! Just like she was going to make the orange haired man love her cheeky smile even if she had to keep flashing it to him whenever she saw him. Oh and he would fall for it. After all what man in his right mind would not at the least like her smile?

Eventually, Kushina noticed the sudden shift in emotions of the civilians, 'Why are they all glar-?' Kushina cut herself off as her answer came in the form of a fairly tall, cream-skinned lady with long navy blue hair falling to her back wearing a black kimono dress with white flowers petals printed all over it. She had a white obi tied around her waist and black toed sandals on her feet.

That beautiful woman came from a very prodigious clan… well her clan was once prodigious before a certain event changed all of that. But that was a story all on its own. At this point of time many of the villagers despised the woman and her clan in its entirety, treating them as pests that they could get rid of at any given time they pleased.

"Mikoto-chan!" Kushina recognized the woman instantaneously, making the villagers wince from the subject of their glares getting called out. The woman now known as Mikoto turned around and smiled brightly at the red haired woman she had come to know in all of her years of living in Konohagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Leaves) as Kushina.

"Hello Kushina-chan!" Mikoto greeted, running up to Kushina and giving the red haired woman a hug with three bags of shopping in her hands, "How are you doing? I hope you're taking good care of yourself?"

Kushina nodded her head in a happy manner, "You betcha I am! Dattebane!"

Mikoto shook her head with an amused smile on her features, "Same old Kushina. You never change, do you?" Kushina grinned in a sheepish manner before Mikoto noticed someone wasn't with her, "Hey, where's Naruto-chan? I thought the little guy would be with you."

Kushina held up her index finger, "Oh. Well he's resting at home with Ichigo-kun."

"Ichigo?" Mikoto repeated with confusion written all over her features, "Who's that?"

Kushina scratched the side of her cheek awkwardly, "That's a little hard to explain Mikoto-chan." Mikoto just blinked a couple of times at Kushina, prompting her to continue, "Well for starters, he's a very polite young man who's not quite sure how he arrived here."

"You mean he has amnesia?" Mikoto asked with her mouth open in shock.

"It's something around those lines." Kushina agreed mysteriously, a frown adorning her already attractive features, "He may be just suppressing his memories so he won't feel lonely, sort of like how I used to act all tomboy-ish when I first came to live in Konoha so I wouldn't have to deal with the pain of loneliness."

Mikoto nodded her head in understanding before wincing at the remembrance of Kushina's past. It wasn't a big secret that Kushina Uzumaki was a star, and it was because of such rare potential that Konoha opted to bring Kushina over to their village in exchange for offering their services to Kushina's old village. Like for instance Konoha was assigned to watch over the Uzu no Kuni (The Land of Whirlpool) and see to it that it was protected from any and all invaders willing to take it down.

Obviously that failed epically.

And such a failure would forever weigh heavily on the shoulders of the Sandaime Hokage.

Anyway, Kushina used that badass persona of hers to mask her own pain. So now this left a question, "How does this Ichigo-guy act, Kushina-chan?" Mikoto asked in curiosity.

Kushina's frown deepened even more so than what it already was, "That's the thing. He doesn't have any particular traits that make him who he is. He's more like a robot than a human, dattebane!"

Mikoto's eyes held a touch of sadness in them, "That's a little heart-breaking to hear. Everyone should have a little emotion, even if it's just a little." Like most of her own clan held fury, but that was another matter entirely, "I wonder what he could've saw to even make him want to suppress his emotions."

"That's exactly what I wanna know, dattebane." Kushina stressed before calming down by inhaling and exhaling deeply, "But it isn't all bad. Ichigo-kun did show a good deal of gratitude when I decided to take him in."

Mikoto nodded, "Well nobody said you weren't naïve Kushina-chan." Mikoto teased, making Kushina pout before an idea came to her, "Why don't you bring Ichigo-san down to mine and Fugaku's house today for dinner. I'm sure little Sasuke-chan would love to see little Naruto-chan."

"That's a great idea, dattebane!" Kushina smiled brightly, "I betcha Itachi would be happy to meet Ichigo-kun."

Mikoto nodded contently, "Then it's a plan. We'll be expecting you, Naruto-chan and Ichigo-san by ours in roughly three hours' time. Is that okay with you?"

"You betcha it is!" Kushina chirped. "That would give me enough time to get Ichigo-kun cleaned up." Mikoto looked at Kushina strangely, getting her to laugh while waving her around in a dismissive manner, "I mean I have to give Ichigo-kun a haircut. He was only found here yesterday, and it looked like he hadn't been given a haircut in two years, dattebane!" Kushina lied.

Mikoto nodded her head in understanding before patting Kushina's shoulder, "Okay, I'll see you later Kushina-chan."

"Sounds like a plan."

XxX

(Kushina's apartment – With Ichigo and Baby Naruto)

Whoever said taking care of babies wasn't an easy task was spot on in that aspect, because Ichigo was currently overseeing little Naruto and had no idea what to do. Baby Naruto was next to Ichigo on the couch lying on his back while Ichigo had his arms crossed over his chest.

Expressionlessly, Ichigo looked over at baby Naruto who was staring at him blankly, "Old man."

"No idea." Zangetsu insisted calmly, "Taking care of a baby is not my forte I'm afraid." Ichigo merely let out a grunt. Zangetsu was oddly surprised the manifestation of Ichigo's other power did not make a cheeky quip about the situation Ichigo found himself in. But then again the white-faced devilish-like mass of reishi within Ichigo hadn't conversed with them much after its pride took three heavy blows.

The first one was when Ichigo's sheer determination proved too much for it in their fight within Ichigo's mindscape way back when the vizords chose to assist Ichigo in controlling his satanic power. But despite that setback, the devilish mass of reishi still held a glimmer of hope that it could take over Ichigo's body, as Ichigo could only control its murderous reiatsu for a mere ten seconds.

Its resolve to possess Ichigo's body, chewing up Ichigo's soul before spitting it out dwindled significantly once Ichigo's determination proved too great for it in his fight against the fearsome Grimmjow! Once the ten seconds were up, Ichigo would not cease control over its power, he forcefully kept the hollow mask on even as his body started straining from the pressure of sustaining the devilish power of the hollow inside of him for way longer than he could handle. It seemed right there Ichigo had finally conquered the supreme mass of murderous reishi inside of himself.

But unfortunately a chance presented itself to the hollow to possess Ichigo's body, as Ulquiorra remorselessly blow Ichigo's heart right out of his chest, seemingly murdering the orange haired shinigami. The hollow greedily snatched at that chance like a child in a candy store, turning Ichigo into something so monstrous the gods themselves would've ran away scare of Ichigo.

It had become a Vasto-Lorde! And with that tremendous power it eradicated Ulquiorra as if the hollow should've been renamed Ulquiorra-bitch right there and then. It was that great! It was just unfortunate that Ichigo's shinigami powers greatly overwhelmed his hollow powers, as the orange haired shinigami used that and his sheer determination to regain possession of his body!

Once it and Zangetsu fused together to train Ichigo in the art of using his most destructive and most lethal form/attack it just lost all motivation to try and possess the stoic shinigami. It did throw subtle little jabs at Ichigo during the long tedious year of 'torture' Ichigo endured, but it was all for naught.

Speaking of a mass of energy, Ichigo let out a grunt as he looked at baby Naruto, prompting Zangetsu to speak up, "Yes. I too can sense a humongous amount of power hidden deep within this child. It holds an overwhelming amount of malevolence."

"Like me." Ichigo stated.

"That could be plausible… Ichigo. The hollow inhabiting your inner world does have an incredible amount of malevolence within its reiatsu. I'd go as far as to say the hollow and the mass of power locked within this child are about even in terms of destructive capabilities." Zangetsu offered his two cents on the matter, "If push comes to shove you could always defeat it, as your overall power topples its power comprehensively."

Ichigo's expression did not change as it remained stony; he only let out a hum noise to let Zangetsu know he took all of that information in.

How could he not? Here was a boy that was quite blatantly like him. Not in terms of personality, because he was positive once the boy grew up; the two would be a million miles apart from one another, but in the sense that they both had two large amounts of reishi/chakra in the forms of two very malevolent beings.

And not that Ichigo would ever admit it but he would've rather liked for one person, just one, to have had a being of pure malevolence within the depths of his/her soul. Sure he got that with the vizords, but they wanted Ichigo to be a part of their little group, something Ichigo was not fond of at all.

He desired their help with controlling his inner hollow so he wouldn't accidentally lose his temper one day, and allow the devilish being to free itself from its prison, technically, from inside of Ichigo, and then go on a rampage slaughtering Ichigo's family in its vendetta! That was it. He just needed help to prevent that from happening. But did he want friends?

No.

Fuck no.

No thank you. Ichigo was a loner, a lone wolf. He didn't desire friends, or a 'posse' to hang with. In the past he often turned down any and all invitations to hang out with Keigo and Mizuiro, because he liked to be by himself. On the contrary he was only living with Kushina because he didn't fancy living on the streets and eating out of trash bins, and he wasn't evil enough to boot down someone's front door, kick the shit outta whoever lived in the house, murder their asses, and dispose of the dead bodies as if he were living there the whole time.

He had his code of honour.

And murdering some poor soul for his/her house wasn't in it.

Kushina had to be respected for taking him in. She just had to.

An ear-splitting cry erupted from baby Naruto, getting Ichigo to calmly shift his head to look at the small infant, "Hungry." Ichigo guessed and baby Naruto continued to cry, curling up his tiny legs while his chubby fingers folded a bit as if they wanted to form two fists.

"Soothe him Ichigo." Zangetsu urged and Ichigo picked up baby Naruto before gently placing the blond haired baby by his shoulder and rubbing his little back, but baby Naruto continued to whimper loudly, "Does he smell?" Ichigo shook his head slowly, "Then he must be hungry, didn't that woman leave a readymade bottle for him to drink in the kitchen."

xXx

(Flashback)

xXx

"Alright Ichigo-kun, I'm going out to buy you some clothes and some groceries and perhaps a new toy for Naruto-chan." Kushina said, putting on her coat while Ichigo sat on the couch with Baby Naruto on his lap, "I also have to get more scissors to do your hair. Can you watch Naruto-chan for me while I'm gone?"

Ichigo hummed affirmatively, nodding his head to let Kushina know it was one of affirmation.

"Oh goody, I won't be gone for long! Dattebane." Kushina chirped, walking over to Ichigo before picking up baby Naruto, "You be good for Ichigo-kun now you little munchkin." Baby Naruto let out an adorable giggle, "That's right. Momma's baby boy's gonna be good for Ichigo-kun." Kushina rubbed her nose against baby Naruto's before kissing the cute little baby on his forehead.

Kushina put baby Naruto back on Ichigo's lap, making him stop gigging as he looked at Ichigo blankly, "See ya later Ichigo-kun! A bottle is in the kitchen if Naruto-chan gets hungry." Ichigo nodded his head simply, grunting as Kushina left the house in good spirits.

XxX

(End of Flashback)

xXx

The sound of a microwave going off broke Ichigo's out of his musings as the orange haired man stood in the kitchen with a still crying blond haired, blue eyed baby in his arms. He reached into the microwave after opening it up and brought out a clear-view baby bottle with a milk-like liquid in it.

"Waa. Waa. Waa. Waa." Baby Naruto wailed.

From what he knew of watching sitcoms when he could before arriving in this world, it was best to check if the baby milk was too hot by dripping a bit on one's hand first. With that on his mind Ichigo squeezed just a little bit of the milk on his hand. It didn't feel overly hot or too cold. But then again he only warmed it up for about twenty seconds.

Babies didn't like boiling hot things. That was only logical.

"Here." Ichigo gently placed the bottle near the crying baby Naruto's mouth, getting him to stop crying as he contently began to drink the milk out of his bottle. Ichigo hummed and walked back over to the cream-coloured sofa he slept on before sitting back down with baby Naruto on his lap, helping him drink his bottle stoically.

"You're a good man." Zangetsu complimented.

"I'm just returning the favour." Ichigo returned, brushing off the compliment as if Zangetsu hadn't even said it. And why should he take it? He was living off of the kind red haired woman for free after all. C'mon, he had to do something to repay her kindness.

"Even still," Zangetsu insisted, "Babies, especially male ones, need role models in their lives." Zangetsu elucidated wisely, "You could be his."

Ichigo grunted, shaking his head. He wasn't thinking about that. But on another note, "I could use some money." He couldn't rely on Kushina for everything now, "Suggestions?"

"You could always become one of them." Zangetsu could tell Ichigo wanted to frown at that suggestion, but he resisted, "Well. All humans in this world have even the minuscule amount of reiryoku (spirit energy) within them." Ichigo knew that. It was why seemingly everyone in this world could see him, "Criminals with bounties on their heads wouldn't be too far off of the range of possibilities around here."

Bounty hunting did sound satisfactory to Ichigo's needs. He did not want to have to slaughter anyone not a threat to him or his associates; however, he didn't quite have a choice in the matter. He needed some money to pull his own weight around here. He was too honest just to live off of Kushina like a run-of-the-mill moocher.

So bounty hunting it was then. But as long as the ones Ichigo either brought in or outright massacred depending on the conditions of the bounty were evil ones, Ichigo could rest easy at night.

A sucking noise made Ichigo look down at baby Naruto to see that he had finished his milk. With a relaxed grunt escaping his lips, Ichigo easily lifted baby Naruto near his shoulder and tenderly rubbed his little back, eventually getting a burp and a puking sound out of the little blond haired baby.

"It's unfortunate that happened Ichigo." Zangetsu said sincerely, making Ichigo nod as he stood up before putting baby Naruto down on the couch. One could see the white vomit that erupted from baby Naruto's mouth on the back of the couch and on Ichigo's back unfortunately.

And the baby was just giggling cutely at him.

Okay, it was nothing to stress about.

xXx

(With Kushina)

xXx

"I sure hope Naruto-chan didn't give Ichigo-kun too much trouble." Kushina said idly to herself, standing outside of her apartment before looking up at the direction of the trees, "They're still there." Kushina sighed, turning back to her door before putting her key into the lock and opening it up.

"I'm home!" Kushina declared brightly, receiving no response. "I'm home." She repeated as she walked into the living room and onto the sight that made her coo aloud, "Awww." Ichigo was passed out on the sofa with baby Naruto peacefully sleeping on his chest while sucking on his little thumb, "He looks like he could be Naruto-chan's uncle."

Kushina carefully observed the sleeping Ichigo and Naruto while silently tip-toeing towards them. Ichigo looked content to her, almost as if he were a normal happy man and not an emotionless robot. But as she ventured closer to the two, her nose wrinkled as a slight grimace appeared on her beautiful face.

"You're back." Ichigo murmured, surprising Kushina as Ichigo turned his head to look at her before he covered his mouth as a yawn attempted to echo throughout the air.

"I thought you were sleeping." Kushina explained as she walked over to Ichigo before setting her bags down and sitting by the lanky man's feet. She sniffed at the air before looking at her sofa to see a slight smudge above Ichigo's head, making her sigh, "I take it Naruto-chan threw up."

Ichigo nodded his head affirmatively, sitting up before setting the baby on the couch between him and Kushina, "I apologise."

"Don't worry about it." Kushina brushed it off with a huge smile on her features, "It wasn't your fault. My little Naruto-chan just happens to be one greedy little boy," Kushina smiled at her sleeping baby-boy, tickling his tummy, "Mamma's little boy is a greedy little boy, yes you are."

Kushina stopped tickling baby Naruto and looked at Ichigo, "Oh, yeah! I ran into a friend of mine today, her name's Mikoto Uchiha." Ichigo lifted his eyebrow up in curiosity, wondering where Kushina was going with this, "She invited us around for dinner."

"Us?"

"Yep!" Kushina chirped with a smile adorning her features, "I hope that's okay with you." Ichigo closed his eyes, nodding his head to let Kushina know he was okay with going to her friend's home, "Alrighty then. Let a girl get a cracking with that hair of yours, Ichigo-kun. After all I'm sure you want to look your best for others."

Ichigo offered a shrug of his shoulders. He really didn't care what other people thought about him, but since he needed a haircut he wasn't going to complain. He never did. With that Ichigo hopped off of the sofa before placing himself behind Kushina (who was still sat on the couch) on the floor in a lotus-position, getting Kushina to smile before she reached into one of the bags and pulled out her scissors she bought (brought) earlier.

"They really tortured you Ichigo-kun by letting your hair grow out." Kushina joked sweetly, only getting a drone out of Ichigo which made her sigh as she started cutting Ichigo's hair that reached past his shoulders and ended at his upper back.

"Question." Ichigo said after a few strands of his hair fell onto the floor.

"What is it Ichigo-kun?" Kushina questioned.

Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, "Naruto. I can sense quite a huge amount of malevolent energy within him." Kushina gasped and dropped her scissors, not even getting so much of a flinch out of Ichigo who remained as cool as a cucumber.

"Do you know what's in my Naruto-chan?" Kushina asked tentatively.

"Not necessarily." Ichigo did little to ease the red haired woman's worries. He looked at Kushina, as if asking her with his eyes alone to elucidate for him to comprehend the mass of malevolent energy hidden within Naruto.

Kushina shifted uncomfortably, letting out a sigh as she realized Ichigo probably wouldn't let this go without knowing what was within Naruto, "I was afraid you would find out. I just hope you won't judge me afterwards."

"I won't." Ichigo assured.

Kushina nodded with a gulp, "Well I don't know if you know about this, but they're nine constructs of chakra all known as bijus (tailed-beasts) around the world."

"I've sensed them." Ichigo divulged.

Kushina hummed and bit her top lip before continuing with a saddened expression on her features, "Only a year ago, when my husband Minato Namikaze was still alive, did a unknown masked-man manage to invade Konoha while I was giving birth to Naruto-chan. Somehow, he was able to find the most powerful of all the bijus, the Kyuubi no Yoko (Nine-Tailed-Fox)."

Ichigo nodded to show that he was taking in all of the info, "He… controlled the Kyuubi through… controversial methods." Kushina explained. Ichigo felt she was intentionally leaving something out, but did not call her out on the matter, "Being the Yondaime Hokage at the time, Minato took the responsibility of taking on the Kyuubi after flashing me and Naruto-chan home with his Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)." Kushina explained, clenching her fists as tears welled up inside of her eyes.

Kushina took a few deep breaths to recompose herself, "He didn't give me a chance to talk him out of it before he teleported himself and Naruto-chan away after he'd teleported the Kyuubi out of Konoha. The time Hiruzen-sama had found him and Naruto-chan, the damage was already done. Minato offered his life to perform a jutsu known as the Shiki Fūjin (the Dead Demon: Consuming Seal)."

Say what now? "That's quite the fascinating move. Is it not Ichigo?" Zangetsu asked rhetorically, getting an apathetic grunt out of Ichigo, mentally of course. That sounded like something originated from the Soul Society, but then again Ichigo (or any shinigami in general) wasn't a demon(s). He (they) was merely an entity composed of reishi.

Then again the Shiki Fujin could've passed for a Kido (demon way).

Ichigo looked over his shoulder and saw Kushina shaking while looking at baby Naruto, "I take it the jutsu was used to seal the Kyuubi within Naruto, was it not?" Kushina's wince was the only clarification Ichigo needed. So that was what he sensed in baby Naruto, a construct of malevolent chakra.

"So…" Kushina hesitated, shifting in place, "I take it you won't want to live with us anymore now that you know that Naruto-chan's a Jinchuuriki." A hum of fascination let Kushina know Ichigo had no idea what that was, "A Jinchuuriki is a human with a biju sealed inside of them. Like Naruto-chan, a human has to be compatible with a biju in order to have it safety locked inside of them; otherwise the consequences could be fatal."

Ichigo grunted in acknowledgement. That made sense. If anyone could have a biju sealed within them then there wouldn't be any established villages, because every single ninja worth their salt would be scattering the planet in search of a biju (most the likely the Kyuubi) to seal it within themselves and gain it tremendous power.

"Ichigo-kun…"

"My curiosity was piqued. That was all." Ichigo explained impassively, cutting off Kushina as if reading the red haired woman's mind.

"Does that mean," Kushina started, hope filing her eyes, "You don't think of my deceased husband any differently, or see Naruto-chan as some kind of monster for being the first Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko (the Nine-Tailed Fox)?" Admittedly she terrified what people would think of her family and Naruto if she told them he was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko; on the contrary, she'd not have told Ichigo if he hadn't sensed the malevolent being within Naruto.

Damn that sensing ability.

No wonder he knew where the ANBU were back when he told her where they were stationed yesterday and the day before this one.

Ichigo shook his head. Why would he? He himself had a malevolent being within himself, which manifested during his tedious training to gain his own shinigami powers so he could rescue Rukia. And he could not rightly judge Minato, because he wasn't naïve enough to believe everyone was as powerful as he was, to the point where they could eradicate mountains with shots of their fists in their first forms, and mere shockwaves after creating the force by swinging their blades around in their second forms. In all actuality, Ichigo was powerful enough in his first form alone (shikai) to annihilate mountains by creating a mere force of a swing of his blade.

The man was different class all round.

Comparing anyone to Ichigo just wasn't fair.

Minato did what he did. It was as simple as that.

Kushina gripped Ichigo's shoulders, a smile forming across her face, "Thank you Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Don't mention it." Ichigo responded apathetically.

Friendship was a bless.

xXx

(Elsewhere)

xXx

On the outskirts of Konoha, away from civilianization, was a compound full of people with distinctive black hair and onyx eyes to match sauntering through the streets. Small children would often scurry into the compound after returning from the academy.

The adults of the clan often came through the gates of the compound after returning from either the shops around the high street of Konoha or seeing their friends that weren't part of their clan, the latter was usually a rarity.

Not for one Mikoto Uchiha. She occasionally attempted to saunter through the market around the busy streets of Konoha known and allowed to all civilians of Konohagakure no Sato, but she always found herself walking through the market district on edge, consistently looking over her shoulder nervously as she could always see (from the corner of her eye) the hate-filled glares the villagers would often send her. She only ventured out of the compound to often buy stuff at the market district that she couldn't get here in the compound or just in the hope that she'd pass by her best friend Kushina Uzumaki.

She was glad to be among her own people once again, since the glares of the civilians always made her feel nervous. It was why she breathed a sigh of relief once she made it through the gates of her compound and into the sanctuary and acceptance of her own turf and people respectively, "It feels good to be back." Mikoto sighed.

She hated how the villagers treated the members of her clan. Before the attack of the Kyuubi no Yoko they were treated as nuisances, as if they were ants, any and all clans could put down in an instant. And that treatment was amped up by one hundred after the invasion of the Kyuubi no Yoko. Mikoto and her clan in its entirety were looked upon with scorn in the eyes of many, as if they were murderers of children.

It wasn't a nice feeling at all.

Eventually, as the slightly depressed Mikoto came upon a massive Japanese house, a small smile formed on her face as she remembered she was cooking for her best friend, her best friend's son, and her best friend's roommate tonight, "I hope Fugaku won't mind a bit of company tonight." She hoped, sliding open the door before taking off her shoes at the door.

"I'm back." Mikoto said brightly.

"Ah. Mother, it's good to see you. How was your day out?" Came a respectable voice of a male child as a little boy with spiky black hair and black eyes sauntered around the corner to greet his mother. He wore a long-sleeved black polo shirt with a high collar, and white shorts reaching his knees.

Mikoto smiled warmly at the boy, "Hello Itachi-kun. Is your father around? I want to let him know we'll be having company around tonight."

"So Kushina-san's coming around tonight with little Naruto-kun. That will be pleasant." The five year old wonder-boy concluded calmly.

Mikoto placed her hands on her hips, "And how do you know that it's Kushina who's coming down. I never told you that." Mikoto smiled at the prodigy that was her son.

Itachi returned the smile in kind, "It's a curse placed upon us that no one except for Kushina-san shall come around to pay us a visit." The wonder-boy explained cryptically.

Mikoto frowned, "Yes, you're right my little smarty pants son." Mikoto affectionately ruffled Itachi's hair, trying to put the motherly-smile back on her face, but the genius-boy was not to be fooled.

"You can find father in his studies." Itachi told her, turning around to walk back into the living room, "Furthermore, Sasuke-kun has been of no trouble at all. I fed him his milk and afterwards he drifted off to sleep. You can find Sasuke-kun in his room sleeping in his cot."

"Good boy, Itachi-kun. You're going to go far as a shinobi if you keep maturing the way you are son." Mikoto praised, getting a hum out of Itachi before he sauntered back to the living room to continue doing what he was doing before stopping to see to his mother.

Itachi Uchiha was one of the most promising young ninja the Uchiha-clan had ever produced. He was absolutely excelling in all aspects within the academy; to the point even the teachers had to praise the boy for his skills. He had already mastered the Uchiha clan's signature attack: The Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (The Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu), and he was already making head-way in creating a more powerful version of the Uchiha-clan's signature attack.

The kid was truly amazing and his father was thoroughly proud of him. Fugaku held the strong belief that his son would bring the Uchiha-clan back to its rightful glory days, something that made the kind-hearted woman in his wife frown every-time she heard her husband preach it. She only wished to live in peace and harmony, she did not desire frame or glory. If she did then she wouldn't have gotten married and had kids.

Mikoto Uchiha just wanted to be treated equally.

"I guess I'll go check on little Sasuke-chan first." Mikoto murmured to herself, sauntering off to a small baby blue painted room with rainbow-like designs on the walls and a cot in the centre of the room. Mikoto walked over to the cot and smiled down at a little black haired baby sleeping on his side.

"You're going to grow up to be big and strong, just like your father." Mikoto assured baby Sasuke, sinking her head into the cot to kiss baby Sasuke on his little forehead before sauntering out of baby Sasuke's bedroom and into the kitchen to put her shopping bags down on her side.

After putting the shopping away, Mikoto went off to find her husband. Once she made it to the door to his studies, she knocked on the door politely, "Fugaku, honey, may I come in for a minute?"

A rather grumpy voice sounded out from the other side, "What is it Mikoto? I am very busy as the head of the Uchiha clan and chief of police force."

Mikoto slightly rolled her eyes and opened the door before calmly walking in, "I just wanted to inform you that I invited Kushina-chan and her friend Ichigo-san over for dinner tonight."

A groan of frustration was heard from a grey-haired man with onyx eyes wearing a simple dark green kimono held closed by a white obi tied around his waist, dark green pants, and black toed-sandals on his feet.

"Dear, you are aware of the fact I do not approve of your relationship with that woman." Fugaku told her sternly, "I would prefer not to mingle with her or her friend known as… Ichigo-san, is it not?"

"But Kushina-chan's my friend!" Mikoto argued. "And you know I don't have many of those after-… well, you know." Yes. That was an extremely touchy subject the head of the Uchiha clan Fugaku Uchiha wished not to go into until he'd the necessary fire power to do something about it.

"I see." Fugaku said calmly, closing his eyes, "Well very well dear, if you insist on Uzumaki-san coming around for tea with her companion I shall support you as your husband." Mikoto smiled and bent down to her husband who was sat in seiza by a desk to wrap her arms around his neck and nuzzle against his face.

"I knew you'd agree honey, I promise you won't regret it." Mikoto assured him.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, dear." Fugaku said, nudging his wife slightly as if to tell her to come off of his shoulder, "And I am very busy right now, as chief of the police force it's my job to see to it that the security of Konoha is of the utmost efficiency. And then there's Itachi… That boy shall lead this clan back to its former glory; no longer will we be out-casted among the rest of the villagers. Mark my words dear. The Uchiha-clan'll reign supreme once again."

Mikoto frowned. Her husband was going to drive himself insane with his desire to restore the clan to its former glory, so much so he subconsciously began to neglect Mikoto, his own wife. She knew he did not mean to ignore her, it was that he was so intensely loyal to the Uchiha clan that he was sort of blinded to everything else around him, even Itachi could see that as clear as day. He blamed the Hokage for shoving the Uchiha-clan members in the back section of Konohagakure no Sato.

A lot of the members of the Uchiha clan complained about what a worthless position they'd be given as serving members as the police force but Fugaku had to hold onto some belief that maybe, just maybe, it was a useful job, one that probably be used to excel them to greatness once again.

Mikoto stood up, walking towards the door before spinning around to glance at her husband once again, "Oh Fugaku." Hatred was consuming her husband every-day, something that highly worried his wife.


	27. The Stoic Ichigo 3

**Chapter 3**

**Showered in Flames**

**xXx**

(In the meantime - With Kushina - baby Naruto and Ichigo)

Kushina and Ichigo were sauntering toward the Uchiha-clan's compound with the ANBU still silently tracking Ichigo, something that amused Kushina as they kept moving within different spots in a desperate bid to escape the orange haired man's view whenever the man would turn his head in their direction as if to say, "You're there."

His sensing ability was simply unreal.

She guessed that it was a samurai-thing as she sure ninjas couldn't sense the Kyuubi from within Naruto, something that both agreed they would keep to themselves and a select few people close to Kushina's family, like Minato's sensei for instance.

Kushina was holding her nappy bag on her shoulder in case Naruto needed a change of diaper later on. Ichigo, with his spiky orange hair cut low, was carrying baby Naruto in his arms while wearing his new clothes bought for him by Kushina. He now wore a blue dragon-patterned kimono with a black obi tied around his waist, black kimono pants, and navy blue sandals on his feet. The patterns on his kimono were gold. In addition he'd a golden rosary-like strap around his chest to hold his massive sword on his back that he insisted on taking with him.

Kushina was impressed that Ichigo seemingly didn't care whether the ANBU thought he was a threat or not by carrying his sword out with him. But to him it was more along the lines of he didn't see them as a threat and thus he allowed them to stalk him in the shadows, not that he ever lost their presences. He always knew where they were.

He could sense anyone's presence, just like he could sense the one coming around the corner. The person's chakra overwhelmed Kushina's by a huge margin. Of course the person's chakra levels still paled in comparison to Ichigo's reiatsu reserves.

"What is it Ichigo-kun?" Kushina asked curiously, looking at the direction Ichigo had turned his eyes to seeing a man so pale it looked as if he hadn't seen the sun in years, he actually made Kushina shudder at the very sight of him.

Walking out of the alleyway was a grey-skinned man with long black hair falling to his mid back. He wore a leaf headband around his forehead, a navy blue jumper underneath a green flak jacket, blue trousers, and blue toed-sandals.

"What a pleasant surprise it is to see the wife of our beloved deceased Yondaime Hokage." The man greeted eerily, his golden eyes watching Ichigo holding baby Naruto with mirth as purple rings shrouded his eyes, "Though, it would appear you've found yourself a new mate Kushina-dear."

"Orochimaru." Kushina said with hesitance in her voice. "And no, you're wrong. This is my friend Ichigo-kun." She took notice of the fact that Ichigo did not hum or grunt in acknowledgment, but didn't question him on the matter.

"Ichigo-kun, huh?" Orochimaru asked, a creepy smile forming on his face. "He looks pretty powerful."

"That's because he is." Kushina replied matter-of-factly. One had to be powerful if one lived in the torture chamber for a year. Kushina was sure Hiruzen would've sent Ibiki in there to interrogate him within that time. So that made Ichigo mentally strong too.

"I see." Orochimaru hissed with a smile on his paled-face. She could feel Orochimaru's malevolence flaring as if trying to taunt Ichigo into something, making Kushina step slightly to the side to hide herself behind Ichigo. Ichigo, seeing this, gently covered baby Naruto's face with his massive hand to keep him from seeing Orochimaru.

"How fascinating." Orochimaru droned as he looked at Ichigo's blade. "That's quite the huge sword you have there. Kukukuku. Tell me boy, are you meant to be a samurai?" Orochimaru hinted to where the ANBU were watching nervously as Orochimaru's malevolence was scaring them to death.

Ichigo nodded his head, his expression remaining apathetical as Orochimaru laughed, "You don't speak much, do you?" A dark gleam covered Ichigo's eyes, "No need to answer that. Kukuku. It was… eventful meeting you Ichigo…" He sounded like he was hinting to say what Ichigo's last name was.

"Kurosaki." Kushina said from behind Ichigo after a few seconds had passed. "That's Ichigo-kun's last name."

"Kurosaki-kun…" Orochimaru licked his lips, "That's such an exciting name." Kushina shuddered before Orochimaru started sauntering forward, but stopped right next to Ichigo, whispering in his ear in a sadistic manner, "I do hope we get the chance to get better acquainted… Kurosaki-kun." Kushina winced as she was close enough to hear what Orochimaru said before the snake-man sauntered off.

"He always gives me the creeps, dattebane!" Kushina said and Ichigo looked at her, "He's one of the three students trained by lord Hokage-sama himself before he became the Hokage along with Lady Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya. Jiraiya's actually this little one's godfather as he was the one who helped Minato become as strong as he did. It was because of his… books-." Kushina seethed with an angry blush on her face, "-Was how Naruto got his name."

A smile then formed on her features, "Not to mention Jiraiya's always been like a father to me and Minato."

Ichigo grunted, patting baby Naruto on his head before removing his hand from his blond hair entirely, baby Naruto just looking at everything in fascination, "Anymore?" Like what made them special.

"Yep," Kushina chirped as she and Ichigo started to walk towards the Uchiha-compound again, "During the Second Great Shinobi War lady Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were honoured by being given the title 'the legendary sannin' by a powerful shinobi named Sanshōuo no Hanzo (Hanzo of the Salamander). Lady Tsunade-sama told me all about that." Hanzo must've been a powerful ninja then.

Well Ichigo would've more than likely just blown the three teammates of Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru asunder with his patented Getsuga Tenshou if it had been him who fought them. However, by their standards, they were pretty strong.

This Hanzo-man must've definitely been powerful if he were able to school them in battle and then leave them alive, but not before giving them a title in respect of their accomplishment.

Meh… pure assumptions, either-way, Ichigo outclassed them all.

But there was still one thing left on Ichigo's mind, "Orochimaru. You seem suspicious of him." Ichigo said simply.

"I was that obvious, huh." Kushina deadpanned as she and Ichigo along with baby Naruto ventured closer to the Uchiha-compound. Ichigo grunted affirmatively, prompting Kushina to explain why she was suspicious of Orochimaru, "I just can't feel secure around the guy, ya' know? He gives off this eerie aura as if he wants to kill everyone he sees just for the pleasure of it. Add to the fact he told Jiraiya he'll live forever to gain mastery of all jutsu out there."

"You should be wary of that man Ichigo." Zangetsu advised. "If it's not for yourself, then keep your guard up around him for that woman and her son. I would not put it pass a guy like him to find out the boy's secret. Though, it'd be unlikely of him being compatible to the construct of chakra within the boy."

Ichigo let out a grunt of acknowledgement. One of the few things he could do to repay Kushina's kindness was to assure that her and her son were well protected, "You should not worry." Ichigo murmured, making Kushina look at him as they reached the Uchiha-compound and walked through the entrance. "All threats to you or Naruto will be annihilated." Ichigo assured apathetically.

Kushina blinked a couple of times as the members of the Uchiha-clan turned heated glares onto them, seeing as they never had the Uchiha-clan's distinctive black hair nor did their clothes hold the symbol of the Uchiha-clan, "Oh. Thanks Ichigo-kun. I appreciate that."

Ichigo grunted again as his eyes shifted from side to side noticing the hate filled glares of the shinobi of the Uchiha Clan. That wasn't too surprising, since the compound was located quite the distance away from any other clan compounds and the rest of civilianization of Konohagakure no Sato.

"You've noticed it then." Kushina suddenly whispered, getting Ichigo to turn his eyes onto her, "The Uchiha-clan aren't exactly well-welcomed around Konoha anymore, hence the hostility. I only come around here just to see my friend Mikoto-chan, because nobody's gonna stop me from seeing my friend dattebane!"

Ichigo hummed as he and Kushina reached a big Japanese-house that Ichigo dubbed as the head of the clan's place of living since it was by far the largest building within the compound, "Here we are!" Kushina declared brightly, knocking on the door multiple of times.

It took a few minutes but eventually the door slid open to reveal the usually grumpy figure of Fugaku. His eyes immediately narrowed on the huge figure of Ichigo carrying baby Naruto in his arms and the hidden ones of the ANBU in the shadows, 'He must've arrived in the village recently.' That made sense. The Hokage wouldn't just let anyone roam free around the village.

The awkward silence made Kushina grin tentatively, "Well?" She asked with her hands on her hips.

"Good evening Uzumaki-san." Fugaku greeted, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but the blue-kimono wearing man was not to be fooled as his cold, deadly brown eyes narrowed slightly, making Fugaku narrow his own eyes, "I take it this is your acquaintance Mikoto-san spoke of."

"Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki." The stoic one introduced himself.

"Fugaku Uchiha. I am the head of the Uchiha clan and chief of the police force. May this visit of yours and Uzumaki-san's all go according to plan," The Uchiha said.

"Indeed." Ichigo replied before a delighted squeal echoed throughout the air, making Kushina squeal in return.

"Kushina-chan!"

"Mikoto-chan!"

The blue haired lady came rushing past her husband and into the arms of the red haired woman in a show of sisterly affection.

"I'm so glad you could make it." Mikoto smiled with one arm wrapped around Kushina's head and the other one wrapped around her mid-back and this action was mimicked by Kushina.

"We're glad we could make it too, dattebane!" Kushina cheered. How she loved this woman like the sister she never had. She hoped baby Naruto and baby Sasuke would see each other as cousins due to the bond the two boys' mothers shared with one another. And of course Itachi would be seen as an older cousin of Naruto's.

The 'we' in Kushina's sentence made Mikoto break the warm embrace and look over at the orange haired man whom was carrying Kushina's son, "You must be Ichigo. I heard about you from Kushina-chan." Mikoto smiled kindly at Ichigo, receiving a calm hum out of Ichigo before the blue haired woman turned her attention to the little baby in his grasp, "Awww. And how are you doing little Naruto-chan."

In response to the woman's show of affection baby Naruto rested his head against Ichigo's shoulder, as if he were tired, making Mikoto coo, "Naruto-chan seems fond of you Ichigo-san." Ichigo shrugged his shoulders, stroking baby Naruto's hair.

Mikoto turned back to a smiling Kushina, "Dinner should be ready in 20 minutes you two, Sasuke-chan's sitting with Itachi-kun in the living room if you want to put Naruto-chan in there with him."

Ichigo hummed while Kushina spoke up, "Alrighty then!" Kushina and Mikoto walked into the house followed by Ichigo after Fugaku had sauntered off into the house. The elegant smell of delicious cooking was in the air, making Kushina smile widely, "Hmm! That smells like a dish of your homemade meat and potatoes."

"I see your nose for food hasn't changed either Kushina-chan." Mikoto said with a giggle and Kushina grinned cheekily.

Kushina looked at Ichigo, "Can you take Naruto-chan to Sasuke-chan for me please? I'm gonna go in the kitchen and chat with Mikoto-chan." In a man's language that translated for a long tedious girly chit-chat that'd inevitably put a man to sleep, so of course Ichigo nodded, not wanting to endure that form of torture.

Mikoto cupped her mouth with her hands, "Fugaku, honey, can you show Ichigo-san to the living room."

"Of course. It's of no hassle for me to do so, dear." Fugaku said professionally, as if he were getting paid to act formal for the day, making Kushina frown while Fugaku showed himself and gestured for Ichigo to follow him, to which he did after taking Kushina's nappy bag for Naruto off of her hands.

"Sometimes I worry about your love life Mikoto-chan." Kushina stated matter-of-factly, hands firmly planted on her hips.

"Kushina-chan!" Mikoto scolded the red haired woman.

"What? It's not like I questioned you on your sex life." Kushina defended her innocence righteously, grinning like a cat.

"That's even worse!" Mikoto winced with a blush adorning her features.

Kushina waved her hands dismissively, "Oh c'mon now! You can tell a girl about those sorts of naughty things you get up to with your husband! That's what girlfriends are for." Kushina sang. Sisterly love was for the win!

Mikoto let out a sigh, "Whatever you say Kushina-chan." Kushina grinned and followed her closest friend into the kitchen before Mikoto spoke up, "So tell me about Ichigo-san. What kind of jutsus does he use if he has any?"

Kushina placed her index finger on her temple and tensed up her face up as if in deep concentration, "Oh yeah! I never asked him yet! Haha!" Mikoto palmed her face. Her friend's laid-back attitude was infectious, "Oh. But he did tell me he's a samurai."

"That's quite the huge sword he has for a simple samurai." Mikoto deadpanned as she and Kushina stood in the kitchen overseeing the food cooking.

"He has a big one." Kushina grinned.

Mikoto shook her head with a wry smile on her features, "The things that come out of your mouth make me question your age sometimes, Kushina-chan." Kushina pouted before she realized what Mikoto was implying. A shock expression appeared on Kushina's face before a relaxed smile spread across her features after the shock vanished.

"I guess you're right, dattebane!" Kushina chirped brightly.

Mikoto giggled before looking at the window seriously, "So I take it lord Hokage-sama has Ichigo-san under probation." Mikoto said, referring to the ANBU stationed outside of the house, 'stealthily' hidden within the shadows.

Kushina's grin dropped off of her face, "Yep. But you know something; I think Ichigo-kun can sense them without even trying." Kushina's grin reappeared even bigger than before. "He hasn't once lost track of their location! Isn't that something? Dattebane!" Mikoto smiled at her friend.

"It's something else alright."

xXx

(With Ichigo – Fugaku – Itachi – The two babies – Living room)

xXx

"You can place the baby there." Fugaku suggested as he pointed at a chocolate brown sofa with Itachi sitting on it with a book in his hands and baby Sasuke resting against the sofa dressed in a little dark blue jumpsuit.

Fugaku smiled proudly at his son, "Ah. I see you're studying hard to bring this clan back to its glory days once again, eh Itachi-boy."

Itachi looked up from his book calmly, "Of course father." He pointed at Ichigo who emotionlessly placed baby Naruto next to baby Sasuke and put the nappy bag down on the floor, "I take it this is the friend of Kushina-san mother was referring to, right?"

"Affirmative. His name is Ichigo Kurosaki." Fugaku droned.

"Ichigo-san." Itachi said as if testing out Ichigo's name.

"Itachi." Ichigo replied, taking Zangetsu off of his back before sitting on a single sofa.

It was quite the calm atmosphere before Fugaku decided to speak up, "So, the way you casually took off of that giant sword of yours off of your back makes me think you have some power." Ichigo didn't grace him with a look. "It's quite the sword if I do say so myself."

"It kills." Ichigo said.

That was what a sword did. Either-way one looked at it a sword was a weapon used to inflict a great deal of damage on one's opponent. Blood would inevitably stain one's hands the more they swung their blades around.

Fugaku nodded, "You sound like you've had the displeasure of killing someone Kurosaki-san."

"I've seen my fair share." Ichigo answered cryptically, "My power's risen because of it."

A smirk spread itself across Fugaku's features, "Do you think you could defeat me?" He was curious now. This was a man the Hokage had tailed for crisis sake! He had to be powerful in some way, shape, or form, or at the very least a danger to the village. If Fugaku could defeat him then maybe the Hokage would see the Uchiha clan as a more prominent clan in Konohagakure.

"Perhaps." Ichigo contemplated calmly, making Itachi look at him.

Fugaku smirked arrogantly, "Perhaps a little sparring match is in order. Does that sound satisfactory to you, Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo hummed. Why not? He hadn't had a decent warm up since he used to purify hollows. Ichigo stood up, walking towards Fugaku without his sword, something that made Fugaku raise his eyebrow, "Aren't you going to need your sword to fight Kurosaki-san." A shake of the head came from Ichigo, making Fugaku clench his fists as fury filled his eyes.

Who did this swordsman think he was? How dare he even hint that he could subdue him, the chief of the police force and the head of the Uchiha clan without his sword!? Did he not know of their special ability, the ability all Uchiha clan members possessed, eh? Or was this foolish man just that ignorant that he'd blatantly ignore the fact that they, the Uchiha-clan members, had quite possibly the most powerful Doujutsu in all of Konoha! No! The world!

"You should calm yourself father." Itachi urged him, not liking his father's arrogance rearing its ugly head as his father continued to shake with rage, "It's of no real stress at all. Ichigo-san was merely implying that he wouldn't want the spar to get out of hand before dinner." Ichigo was impressed by the boy's maturity.

"Silence Itachi!" Fugaku commanded and Itachi obeyed as Fugaku looked at Ichigo with a cocky smirk on his features, "I'll make you eat those words, Kurosaki-san." Words? What words? He didn't even say anything? "Follow me." Fugaku said, walking off to the backyard that acted as a training field to him and his family. Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and followed after him, leaving Itachi shaking his head while the babies idly giggled with each other, intertwining their pinkie fingers together like they were the best of friends.

"The clan's arrogance will be the death of them."

xXx

(Backyard)

xXx

After Fugaku had got his pouch from his studies, he led Ichigo to the backyard to begin their sparring match, "I'll give you one last chance Kurosaki-san." Fugaku warned, standing up with his arms crossed over his chest in a beautiful field with a rival stream, a high cliff, and a plenty of trees, "Go back inside and retrieve your blade. Otherwise this could end badly for you."

Ichigo did not reply. He merely stood casually, allowing the bangs of his hair to cover his eyes. Fugaku, seeing this, took it as a signal to start the fight.

"You're loss." Fugaku said nonchalantly, taking out a kunai and chucking it at Ichigo, smirking once he saw Ichigo's unmoving figure, 'This ought to teach you not to underestimate the might of the Uchiha-clan.' His eyes widened once the kunai bounced off of Ichigo's face, causing sparks to fly through the air as if Ichigo was made out of steel.

"What kind of jutsu is that?" Fugaku asked, keeping his voice low as the kunai he threw at Ichigo fell to the ground without even putting a cut on Ichigo.

"You will have to insert more power into your strikes than that to harm me." Ichigo told him impassively, receiving a snarl out of Fugaku.

"I think I can do that quite well Kurosaki-san." Fugaku assured, managing to return to his calm demeanour as he whipped out five kunai knifes from the pouch on his backside before twirling them around rapidly. Ichigo could see a gleam between the kunai knifes before Fugaku let fly at him.

Once again Ichigo was prepared to tank the soaring metal-things of death (to a normal human) until Fugaku smirked and flashed through a series of hand-signs, landing on the tiger seal, "Katon: Shikō no taihō Jutsu (Fire Release: Supreme Cannon Jutsu)!" A powerful mass of blazing fiery chakra erupted from Fugaku's mouth in the form of a long cannon wave of fiery chakra that travelled straight in the direction of the hurled kunai knifes as if ninja wires were leading the powerful jutsu to Ichigo.

'Dodge.' Fugaku ordered mentally, preparing to dash to the side with a kunai and an explosive tag in his grasp, but ended up raising an eyebrow slightly as he saw Ichigo's unflinching figure as if he were frozen to the spot by some genjutsu. 'Why won't he dodge? Does he want to be burned to ash-?' He cut himself off as the orange haired shinigami was shrouded in the burning flames of the Shiko no Taiho Jutsu (Supreme Cannon Jutsu), "Idiot." Fugaku growled out in shock. He knew it was a speedy jutsu as he attached wires to the kunai knifes he chucked at Ichigo meant to give the fire an added boast of speed.

It was also meant to shock Ichigo to see how fast fire could travel. Fugaku still expected Ichigo to dodge though, if only barely. Then he would've capitalized instantaneously. It was just too bad it never turned out the way Fugaku planned. Right… now he had an explanation to a soon-to-be-distraught-Uzumaki for murdering her friend.

Not that he cared about her, but explanations were annoying.

…Especially ones that he never planned to give.

xXx

(Near the Battlefield)

xXx

The ANBU that were stationed to watch over Ichigo all had to pick up their dropped jaws at seeing the lunatic blue-wearing kimono samurai casually stand in the same place while the powerful stream of fire soared to him, engulfing him in its intense flames once it got close enough to do so.

"Is he a dumbass?" The purple haired girl of the group asked her comrades, "Was he trying to get himself killed or what?"

"It's believable that he would do so." Another one murmured in a masculine tone of voice as he emotionlessly watched the blazing flames 'eradicating' Ichigo. He was only assigned to observe the man to make sure he didn't try anything that could've disrupted the peace in Konoha.

Assuring that the man lived wasn't in his contract.

"You think the man purposely let himself be killed to get away from our observing eyes," A feminine voice spoke up in the same impassive tone of voice as her husband.

"But that doesn't make any sense." The shortest one of the group stressed, grabbing her long purple hair in an exasperated manner, "That man has literally been schooling us on how we hide! We've never once successfully stayed hidden out of his field of awareness!"

"Calm yourself child." The male of the two adults commanded calmly, making the purple haired girl pout. He wasn't too mad at her. She was still a newbie in training. Truth be told this sort of assignment should've been left to the professionals, the veterans, but the two guardians of the girl insisted on taking the assignment of watching the potential dangerous man until he was deemed not a threat to the leaf, so the purple haired girl could gain some sort of experience.

A potential threat indeed since Ichigo had proven he could tank hits of metal-sharp-weapons that could easily slice and dice most warriors and normal humans into shredded onions. One would not assume such a powerful man to be suicidal, especially one that endured a year of torture on his psyche.

Those kinds of torture were always the worse. Usually humans could recover from a tremendous beating delivered to their bodies, because after all time healed all wounds. However, an assault on one's mind could be life-scarring and leave them in a bad way forever, to the point they'd be willing to spew all of their secrets just to make the torture stop.

Ichigo did no such thing.

He endured the torture stoically.

The adult woman sighed indifferently, "We should infor-." Her words were cut off as she and her partner bared witness to something that'd in long last broke the emotionless duo out of their shells, as visible shock could've been seen clearly on their faces if their masks weren't covering their faces. The man even quickly slammed his hand against the young girl's mouth to silence a bloodcurdling scream that threatened to erupt.

The Uchiha was left shitting himself as he believed he was staring at a demon in human form.

And his name was Ichigo Kurosaki.

xXx

(Moments Before with the women in the kitchen)

Mikoto bent down and pulled open her oven to check on the food, "it shouldn't be much longer now," Mikoto assured, shaking the oven tray with the still cooking meat and potatoes in it. She was oddly surprised her dear friend Kushina didn't chirp, "Kushina-chan?" Mikoto asked, standing up to glance at Kushina who'd a look of contemplation on her face

"Ya want to know something? Ichigo-kun and I ran into Orochimaru earlier." Kushina admitted, leaning back against the counter.

"You mean the snake sannin?" Mikoto shuddered and Kushina nodded. "I was relieved when lord Hokage-sama didn't select him as Yondaime Hokage. Imagine how freaky that would've been." Mikoto let out a humourless giggle, trying to relief the tension Kushina made involuntarily.

"Yeah… he would probably make off with Hiruzen-sama's scroll of forbidden jutsus." Kushina joked before letting out a laugh afterwards.

"So what was Orochimaru's reaction to Ichigo?" Mikoto pondered.

"It was cryptic and creepy as always." Kushina stated in a bubbly manner, smiling hugely.

Mikoto laughed, "He makes one believe he's a mad scientist wanting to run tests on a strong shinobi's or warrior's body."

"He did call Ichigo's name exciting." Kushina droned with a finger tapping her chin, "He is named after a strawberry after all." On second thought she could do with an 'Ichigo' right now, "Hmm Ichigo." Kushina moaned jokingly, making Mikoto sweat drop as she reached into her fridge and pulled out a strawberry before throwing it at Kushina who caught it effortlessly, "Thank you Mikoto-chan!" Kushina chirped appreciatively, eating her Ichigo (strawberry) contently.

"No problem Kushina-chan." Mikoto deadpanned and Kushina grinned cheekily, "Well at least you helped lighten the mood after the whole Orochimaru-thing came up." The kind-hearted woman always tried to look at the bright side and her laid-back somewhat childish friend made it easier for her to do so.

Old habits die hard.

"Amen to that!" Kushina cheered before raising her eyebrow in a questionable manner, "Hiruzen-sama doesn't seem to be too suspicious of Orochimaru. Though, I suppose that's to be expected with snaky being a former student of his." Kushina accepted that as a plausible reason for why Hiruzen would not see any malevolence within his old student.

"Well I believe the reason for that is because lord Hokage-sama is an-…" She abruptly coughed, "…Ancient man. Let's face it, lord Hokage-sama isn't exactly getting any younger. He probably wants to see the best in everyone which is probably the reason why only three ANBU guards were assigned to watch Ichigo." Mikoto explained sensibly, getting an incredulous look from Kushina.

"Are you trying to say I'm too trusting?"

"I would say that description of you sounds pretty much accurate." Mikoto giggled and Kushina pouted.

"Well in my defence Ichigo-kun did declare his desire to assure that me and my baby-boy Naruto-chan were safe from any threats." Kushina defended.

"They always did say that they'd a code of honour." Mikoto said thoughtfully, "Samurais that is."

"That's what I'm saying dattebane!" Kushina chirped brightly, "Although I dunno if Ichigo-kun could beat Orochimaru, because that would mean he could beat Jiraiya!"

"How strong do you think Ichigo-san is?" Mikoto asked curiously.

"I wouldn't know, but my guess is that he is pretty strong." Kushina shrugged with a smile on her face. "I'm kinda excited to see how strong Ichigo-kun is." As if answering the-once-hot-headed-now-laid-back-girl's prays, a blazing sound of some kind of firework echoed throughout the air, "What's that?" Kushina raised an eyebrow.

"I think I have an idea." Mikoto turned down the temperature on the oven before gesturing for Kushina to follow her, "Let's go check on the lads, I think Fugaku may be practicing his fire techniques in the backyard again."

"You think Ichigo-kun's out there sparring with him?!" Kushina inquired frantically, eyes lighting up with hope of seeing some of Ichigo's true power, because it would be fantastic to see how Ichigo compared (or overwhelmed) against the head of the Uchiha-clan and chief of the police force.

Mikoto sweat dropped at the red headed woman and sauntered into the living room to see Itachi calmly reading his book while the two babies giggled with each other with their pinkie fingers intertwined with one another. Mikoto smiled happily at the babies, believing that the two would grow up to be the best of friends.

"Hiya Itachi! Have you seen Ichigo-kun and Fugaku-san around anywhere?" Kushina questioned the young Uchiha brightly, making Itachi merely lower his book before pointing his index finger at the direction of where Zangetsu was.

"Father insisted on seeing Ichigo's power." Itachi elucidated.

Kushina tilted her head to the side, "Ichigo-kun didn't take his sword with him! But I thought samurais needed their swords for everything based around fighting."

"It is only a spar their having." Itachi reminded her matter-of-factly, knowing swords were for killing and not for sparring with a host that had a chip on his shoulder, "By the sounds of it father just unleashed his new fire jutsu on Ichigo-san. He must've been frustrated."

Mikoto ran her hand through her hair, "Fugaku can get so infuriated with anyone even showing him the slightest amount of mercy… even if he and his opponent are only sparring." Mikoto finished with a deadpan look written all over her features. Fugaku's pride wouldn't allow anyone to underestimate him or the Uchiha-clan as a whole! He'd the strong belief burning within the depths of his soul that the Uchiha-clan and all its members were one of the strongest clans in Konoha!

Some samurai refusing to face him in battle without his chosen weapon of choice was always going to hurt him… or his rear-end more like.

Someone might need some lube for that later.

"Well let's go outside and catch a glimpse of the spar then!" Kushina had an eager grin on her features as she jogged over to the two sitting babies and bent down to look at her son, "Does momma's little boy want to see Ichigo-kun kick some butt?" Baby Naruto giggled cutely, flashing his mama his gums before she picked him up and kissed his forehead.

"That's right! Yes you do." Kushina giggled as she rubbed her nose against baby Naruto's, making Mikoto smile at her best friend's motherly show of affection for her son.

"How do you know that Ichigo-san'll win so easily, Kushina-chan?" Mikoto asked in a jesting manner as she strolled over to baby Sasuke and picked him up before tickling his tummy, making him laugh adorably.

Kushina hit her lip with her index finger a couple of times with a pensive expression on her face, "I guess I was just rooting for my team!" Kushina excused humbly, "After all he is my roommate. I like to believe that those associated with me have the strength to overcome their opponents, dattebane!"

Mikoto shook her head in amusement before turning to Itachi. "Dinner shouldn't be much longer now, Itachi-kun. Can you keep an eye on it for me?"

"I'm pleased to hear that mother. And yes, it's of no problem for me to do that for you." Itachi said with a genuine smile on his face. Mikoto grinned and affectionately ruffled Itachi's hair, finding it exceedingly hard not to brag with how well Itachi had turned out. He'd good manners and he was the academy's top student. Other parents (usually the mothers) of the Uchiha-clan often approached Mikoto and asked-. No, begged her to tell them her secrets regarding the makings of a wonder-child in Itachi Uchiha.

He was the perfect son all round.

Mikoto walked over to the door with baby Sasuke in her arms and gestured for Kushina to follow her.

"Don't you want to watch the fight between your father and my roomie Itachi?" Kushina asked the prodigy who merely returned to reading his book.

"There's no need for me to do that, as I already know the results." Itachi insisted smartly, making Kushina smile as she noticed the book he was reading.

'It's a book on chakra control.' Kushina thought before venturing over to a patiently waiting Mikoto, 'I hope you follow Itachi's example when you grow up, Naruto-chan.' Kushina gleefully tickled baby Naruto's stomach, making the blond-baby laugh while she and Mikoto made their way to the training field to witness the sparring match between Kushina's roomie and Mikoto's husband.


	28. The Stoic Ichigo 4

**Chapter Four**

**The Cream of the Crop**

xXx

(Training Field – Ichigo vs. Fugaku)

Ironically, as the sun anchored downwards, as if wanting to get to sleep for the day, leaving the sky as bright as Ichigo's carrot top hair, the stoic one sauntered out of the dispensing flames of Fugaku's ultimate fire jutsu without so much of a scorch mark on his expressionless face. Not even his clothes were burned.

It was ironic because the flames merely blended into his hair with the help of the orange sky, like a pair of camouflage pants helping one fade into the grass.

'How?' The shocked Uchiha gawked at the casually sauntering form of the samurai. He couldn't even see any flames on his clothes. On the contrary, the Uchiha observed with his stunned-filled eyes the flames of his jutsu dancing off of Ichigo's form as if the orange haired man was insusceptible to the blazing flames of the head of the Uchiha-clan's strongest jutsu.

Fugaku could've sworn he saw a shiny glow around Ichigo's form as the samurai's body gleamed absently, but as he ventured closer to Fugaku the shine disappeared entirely, leaving Ichigo staring down Fugaku with his eyes devoid of any emotions. The eyes of a cold-blooded man who would not hesitant to murder another man deemed a threat to him or his associates.

"What are you?" Fugaku asked in a murmur of a voice.

"Surrender?" Ichigo offered as if that one question was enough to ask Fugaku did he want to throw in the towel and spar another day. Fugaku gnashed his teeth as fury, and a mass amount of it, quickly filled up the holes he called eyes, like crimson red roses filling up the coffin of a poor soul's corpse.

That sheer anger the chief of the police force felt at basically being called unworthy to continue a spar by some clown of a warrior caused him to subconsciously turn on the power, in the sense he would be able to foresee his opponent's moves or even illusions if he attempted to pull any out of nowhere. His eyes shifted from onyx to crimson with irises appearing in his now red eyeballs spinning around once before encircling the pupils of his eyes.

"Your blatant disrespect to one of the most prodigious clans in Konoha is disgusting." Fugaku said steadily, the undying fury evident in his voice as he turned his red eyes onto Ichigo to give him a supreme heated glare.

Ichigo did not blink or grunt at this latest turn of development before he spoke up, "If you choose to continue this spar, I ask of you to please refrain from using any fire-related techniques." A smirk that accentuated Fugaku's pure arrogance found its way to Fugaku's face as he believed he forced Ichigo to use a great deal of chakra to shield himself from his jutsu.

Ichigo held his arm up, "I would prefer it if the clothes Kushina bought me out of the kindness of her heart don't get burned to a crisp," Fugaku blinked at Ichigo's cryptic explanation, "I had to use my aura to assure that these clothes didn't take any damage." If he had other clothes, preferably his own ones paid for with his own money, he would've more than likely bathe in the flames of the devil until the cows came home without his aura activated and came out as fresh as a daisy.

The flames were nothing. It was his clothes Ichigo did not want to get damaged.

"Aura?" Fugaku regurgitated with absolute bewilderment evident on his face. A nod of the affirmation came from Ichigo. Fugaku's whole body shook with rage as he started to realize what Ichigo was subtly implying, 'So he can withstand my ultimate jutsu without a mark on him…! I'll show him.' Fugaku would've charged at Ichigo if the stoic one hadn't shot his arm out like a commanding officer yelling 'Halt!'

"What?"

Ichigo simply reeled in his arm and turned his hand around to jerk his thumb at the direction of the door, making Fugaku look to where he was pointing to see his wife and Kushina with baby Sasuke and baby Naruto in their arms respectively.

"You think this is over because of that?" Fugaku asked and Ichigo grunted calmly, "You must take me for a coward. Someone who'll back down not to embarrass himself in front of his wife is that it?" Ichigo did not hum or grunt while a sigh came from the blue haired woman known as Fugaku's wife.

"Well you're wrong." Fugaku stated firmly, "I am the head of the Uchiha-clan and chief of the police force. A mere samurai cannot defeat me." He assured proudly, flashing through a series of hand-seals before his chest swelled up like a balloon. He held his index finger and thumb in a sideways 'U' shape near his mouth, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)!"

"FUGAKU!" Mikoto screamed and Kushina felt dread fill her heart as she saw her roomie's unmoving form. Then that dread was washed away as curiosity rushed into her eyes at seeing the strawberry samurai raise his arm up in super slow motion mode to her. And it remained like that once Ichigo bitch-stepped the fire ball to the side casually, dissipating it instantly, and making shock appear all over Fugaku's and (mostly) Mikoto's faces.

"Whoa… did you see that Naruto-chan?" Kushina chirped cheerfully, an astonish expression as clear as day on her beautiful face as she held baby Naruto out to look at Ichigo, "Ichigo-kun swatted that big old fire-ball away like it was nothing, dattebane!" Mikoto looked at her husband in disappointment after sighing in relief that Ichigo was alright.

"Okay, honey, I th-." Mikoto was cut off as Ichigo started strolling forward to the still gasping Fugaku, "Ichigo-sa-." A grunt from Ichigo cut her off, making her blink as the orange haired man reached Fugaku who closed his mouth and scowled at Ichigo.

"Children." Ichigo jerked his thumb at the two babies in the ladies' arms, "There." He said it as if that explained everything. "It's over." And his voice left no room for argument.

However, the Uchiha-clan's leader and chief of the police force would not accept defeat to Ichigo Kurosaki, "Neve-." That was the wrong choice. The blue glow that suddenly shrouded Ichigo's eyes made Fugaku's sentence die in his throat as he felt as if the very air itself was vibrating around him, making it comprehensively difficult for him to whiff. He collapsed on one knee as if he were lifting up a boulder on his shoulders and it kept on getting bigger and bigger in size.

'What… is th-.' Fugaku could barely register a thought as this incomprehensible force of power sent him to the floor like an upside being with wings on its back while his bones were cracking as the very air itself continued to crush him mightily, "Can't… breath… under-…" He could say no more.

"Forfeit." Ichigo commanded in such a calm tone of voice it sounded more like a suggestion than a request as he continued to crush Fugaku with his reiatsu alone like he was just talking about the weather. Fugaku gave him a reluctant and hesitant nod of his head, inhaling deeply once Ichigo powered-down his reiatsu.

"FUGAKU!" Mikoto screamed with worry in her voice as she surged over to her husband and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay?" She got a tentative nod from her husband who continued to inhale deeply while his fists were firmly clenched on the ground and his head was lowered. Mikoto sighed in relief before turning to the blue-clad samurai. "What'd you do to Fugaku?"

"Soul Crush." Ichigo announced.

"Soul Crush?" Mikoto repeated with a puzzled expression on her face as baby Sasuke looked at his downed father, "You used your chakra to almost crush my husband to death."

"Close." Ichigo said as he closed his eyes, "Except I don't use chakra."

"You don't use chakra!" Mikoto gasped and Fugaku stared at Ichigo with wide eyes. What kind of being didn't use chakra? "Is that a samurai thing?"

"Plausible." Ichigo answered cryptically, "I use three forms of energy, reiatsu, reiryoku and reishi." Reiatsu was what he used to pin Fugaku down on the ground. And reishi was what he himself was made out of, but they didn't need to know that.

"What?" Fugaku asked. "That has to be a samurai's power, is it not?" Ichigo nodded simply. What else was he going to tell them? He honestly doubted they'd believe he was a shinigami of godly power. Not that he would care if they didn't believe him, but lying was much easier for him. "What are these powers of yours, Kurosaki?"

"Reiryoku (spirit energy) is the potential within most humans. This concept could also supply for one having a huge amount of chakra, as those with large amounts of reiryoku usually turn out to have a comprehensive amount of reiatsu (spiritual pressure) within them." Ichigo elucidated.

Mikoto and Fugaku nodded tentatively, not realizing that the samurais were moving up in the world. Mikoto looked over to her friend Kushina to find the red haired girl staring at Ichigo in amazement with a bit of contemplation on her face to show she was taking in all of the information being presented to them.

"Reiatsu (spiritual pressure) is the power in use. An experienced warrior could overcome a person possessing reiryoku by possessing even great reiatsu." Ichigo elucidated. "Reishi is merely another skill to increase my power." Ichigo lied smoothly, not interested in revealing he could use reishi (spiritual particles) to walk on the air and that his very being along with fiendish beings known as hollows were composed of reishi.

Just like the planes of the shinigamis' and the hollows' existence were composed of reishi.

"That's really something else Ichigo-san." Mikoto said slowly, receiving a nod out of Ichigo as he looked at Fugaku and pointed at his eyes.

"You want to know how I'm able to change my eye colour huh?" Fugaku smirked and Ichigo nodded. Fugaku sighed as he deactivated his sharingan, "You must not be from around here otherwise you'd know of the Uchiha-clan's doujutsu, the sharingan."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, making Mikoto hold up her index finger, "Doujutsu is an eye power or eye powers as there are more than one of them that are all by-products of certain kekkai genkais. A kekkai genkai is something unique, because only members of a certain clan can inherit a kekkai genkai. The sharingan grants the user the ability to foresee others' movements, can see through genjutsu-illusions, and can even help the wielder mimic other warriors' moves. The sharingan has three different stages, from one tomoe to three. With each tomoe gained the user finds it that much easier to predict someone else's moves." Mikoto explained helpfully.

Ichigo hummed and turned to saunter toward Kushina. Mikoto turned to her husband with concern in her eyes, "Are you going to be okay, Fugaku?" Fugaku didn't reply. He merely stared at Ichigo's retreating form long and hard.

Once Ichigo made it to Kushina, he noticed the stars in her eyes, "That was an amazing display, Ichigo-kun." Kushina exclaimed and then looked at baby Naruto, "Wasn't Ichigo-kun fantastic Naruto-chan?" Baby Naruto just did the 'pick me up' motion with his hands to Ichigo, making Kushina smiled widely, "I think Naruto-chan wants to go to you Ichigo-kun."

Ichigo hummed and took Naruto in his arms, holding him a distance away while gesturing towards the place where Naruto's nappy was located underneath his dungarees, making Kushina grin cheekily, "Someone needs a diaper change. I think he wants you to change him." Kushina guessed and Naruto just attempted to speak in his native baby language.

"I think he's saying he wants big strong Ichigo-kun to change him." Kushina giggled and Ichigo merely closed his eyes as he brought baby Naruto to his chest and walked into the house to get Naruto's little bag with all of his baby things in there. Kushina grinned at her roomie and turned to her best friend with a peace sign as the dark haired woman strolled up to her.

"I say that's one point to Team Uzumaki!" Kushina exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, Ichigo-san is pretty powerful alright." Mikoto agreed tentatively while Kushina looked at a fuming Fugaku still standing in place with his hands balling up into fists.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Kushina asked, blinking her eyes while pointing her finger at Fugaku.

"Yeah I think he just needs time." Mikoto said as she walked into the house followed by Kushina. Kushina and Mikoto walked into the living room to find Itachi coming in at the same time. "I take it dinner is ready, right Itachi-kun?"

"Yes, mother. I turned off the oven after showing Ichigo-san where the bathroom is so he could change Naruto-kun." Itachi said as he sat back on the couch and picked up his book once again.

"He's changing Naruto-chan?" Mikoto gained a glint in her eye, "Someone got lazy I see, eh Kushina." She teased and Kushina rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Sometimes my cute little baby can make such a stinker, ya' know." Kushina smiled. "And besides, he held out his arms to Ichigo-kun to pick him up, so I saw that as a chance to dump the responsibility of changing Naruto-chan onto him and I seized it instantly, dattebane!" Kushina pumped her fist in the air victoriously.

Mikoto grinned with a sweat drop falling off of the side of her face. "That's expert parenting Kushina." She joked before putting Sasuke down on the couch and leaving the living room in good spirits to head into the kitchen and serve out the meal she prepared for the four of them.

"You betcha it is!" Kushina laughed as she spotted Zangetsu leaned up against the wall. She curiously walked up to it and tapped it a few times, "I wonder how heavy this is." She tried to pick it up, but it felt like she was lifting up a boulder as she struggled to even lift the heavy thing off of the wall with both of her hands, "This blade's heavy, dattebane!" Kushina fell on her backside failing to even budge Ichigo's massive sword off of the wall. "Ouch."

"Are you okay Kushina-san?" Itachi asked.

Kushina looked at him, "Yeah! I guess that sword isn't just big for show, ya' know? Dattebane!" Kushina stood up just as Ichigo walked back into the living room with wet stains on his kimono and baby Naruto in his arms while Naruto's backpack was on Ichigo's back, "Hey, Ichigo-kun! Was changing Naruto-chan fun?"

Ichigo didn't reply while Naruto pointed at his kimono, "Goo, ga, gag weee, weey." Baby Naruto tried to say, and Kushina just looked curiously at her son before her eyes soon widened in realization.

xXx

(Flashback – Moments Earlier)

xXx

Ichigo had the strangest feeling that Naruto actually did want him to change him as he sauntered into the living room and grabbed Naruto's bag before Itachi showed him to the bathroom.

"You can use this baby mat to laid Naruto-kun on." Itachi suggested as he grabbed the baby met from inside the bathroom cabinet before resting it on the side. "Mother uses it all the time to change Sasuke-kun." Itachi told Ichigo and Ichigo hummed before Itachi left the bathroom and Ichigo laid baby Naruto down on the mat.

Ichigo undid the buttons of Naruto's dungarees before pulling it down to little Naruto's feet, revealing his white diaper that had a slight bulge to it that appeared to be the source of the foul stench that flowed through the air once Ichigo pulled Naruto's dungarees down to his ankles.

He merely disconnected the diaper and lifted up baby Naruto's legs, seeing the brown ball of poo on the diaper. He used his free hand to open up the backpack before pulling out a packet of wet wipes. He then proceeded to clean Naruto's rear-end stoically, pulling the dirty nappy from underneath the blond haired baby after doing so.

Ichigo chucked the nappy into the bin after putting it into a deposable nappy bag that'd a beautiful fragrance to it to keep the bad smell from escaping its confines. Ichigo took out a fresh diaper and laid it beneath Naruto before taking out the baby powder to shake some of it on Naruto's private parts and rear-end.

But fate had other ideas as a yellowish liquid skyrocketed in the air horizontally, and sprayed Ichigo in his face and on his blue-kimono from the direction of baby Naruto. If there was ever a time to frown then it was now, as baby Naruto smiled in all of his innocence while conveniently holding his hands near the cause of the incident and shutting his little legs.

"HA! The king just got sprayed by piss!" An unstable voice spoke from within Ichigo's inner world and then proceeded to laugh insanely at the wet-faced Ichigo.

Right… The blond haired baby was a mischievous one.

xXx

(End of Flashback)

"Awww! My baby boy's trying to talk dattebane! Aren't you the smarty pants, sweetie!" Kushina smiled and tickled Naruto's tummy, making him giggle before she remembered the point of the explanation except for the voice within Ichigo's head. He left that part out. "Sorry about that Ichigo-kun." Kushina grinned apologetically at the unfortunate samurai.

Ichigo grunted.

"Tell you what, we'll head home after dinner and tomorrow I'll make you my best dish of ramen… ever!" Kushina suggested dramatically, 'And then you'll have to like ramen or my name isn't Kushina Uzumaki-ramen-loving-Akai-Chishio-no-Habanero, (Red Hot-Blooded Habanero), dattebane!'

She sighed once she neither got a grunt nor a hum out of her roommate, but she quickly regained her defiance with a blazing fire of determination lighting up her eyes, promising Ichigo that she'd do what it took to bring him over to the ramen side of the food chain. And he would love ramen too. Not to sound too full of herself, but a certain golden haired wonder did think her food was fabulous, so who was to say that the carrot-top crusher wouldn't come to adore her food too.

Especially her delicious homemade ramen… dattebane!

"Dinner's ready everybody." Mikoto's voice echoed from the direction of the kitchen, making Itachi put his book down before picking up baby Sasuke and venturing off to the kitchen with Ichigo with baby Naruto in his arms in tow. Kushina followed the carrot-top samurai with a determined expression on her beautiful face.

'He'll like my dinner more… and he'll definitely love my ramen, dattebane!'

XxX

(Outside)

XxX

As Fugaku got up, he turned to the direction of the watching ANBU, 'They must be as shocked as I am by Kurosaki's power.' Was the Uchiha-clan in its entirety really that weak? 'No. Kurosaki's the cream of the crop; he can definitely defeat the other clan leaders.' Because he refused to believe that he could be subdued by a mere fodder of a samurai. Ichigo had to be the cream of the crop, there was no other way to explain how Fugaku was subdued so easily.

With his mind at ease Fugaku ventured into the house for a tense dinner.

xXx

"Reiatsu huh?" The male ANBU said to the others, "These samurais are moving up in the world."

"Why do you think they got rid of such a powerful warrior?" The female asked.

"Who knows? Perhaps the samurais have got even stronger warriors than that man." The ANBU guessed.

"But that guy basically crush'd (crushed) the clan head-guy like a bug with pure spirit power, or something!" The young purple haired girl wearing the cat-mask on her face stressed.

"Take a chill pill Cat." The man with the cheetah-mask on his face ordered calmly, making the one codenamed Cat nod reluctantly.

"It could be that he's just a wandering human that traversed over here after a long and tedious battle with a strong opponent. He was wearing only half of his old shihakusho when we first saw him all chained up in the torture chamber," The woman chimed in her two cents.

"Plausible." The masked-man ANBU somewhat agreed before holding his hands together in the ram sign, "Lord Hokage-sama will desire to know of Ichigo's development. He may be able to shed some light on the situation."

The female ANBU nodded, "Alright. See you soon Turtle!"

"Bye, bye Turtle-kun!" Cat chirped brightly, making a lackadaisical groan from the one codenamed Turtle echo through the air as he shunshin'd (body flickered) away amidst a cloud of smoke with green leaves shrouding it.

"Let's move to the front of the house to keep a better eye on Kurosaki-san." The one codenamed bear suggested as she wore a bear-mask concealing her features from the world. These were the elites, (or elites in training) the silent warriors of Konohagakure no Sato. The ANBU guards had no identity, they were merely tools selected to do the most dangerous and unhanded tasks others didn't want to do. They remained in the shadows and prepared to dish out the righteous justice on the Hokage's command.

Cat sighed, "How strong do you think that Ichigo-guy is Bear-chan?"

"Not sure. My guess is as good as yours dear."

xXx

(Elsewhere within the compound)

A young boy of 14 years old was strolling through the compound as the sun finally fell and was replaced by a full silvery moon that was shrouded by a thick mist. The boy was tall and wore a cloak over a t shirt that had a red and white fan-symbol printed on the back, black trousers, and black toed sandals on his feet.

"My lord said he would offer me power." He murmured to himself as he walked out of the Uchiha compound and made his way to the hideout of one of the most powerful shinobi in the entire leaf village. "Power is a must. With power I can assist the clan to propelling itself to greatness. Greatness it deserves."

The boy always got bullied in the academy, because he came from a clan that was on a slippery slope. The kids blamed his clan in particular for the cause of the Kyuubi-attack one year ago; as rumours spread that the mighty Kyuubi had the sharingan within its massive silts, suggesting that a member of the Uchiha-clan placed it under a genjutsu and commanded it to eradicate Konoha.

He hated that. He tried to fight back but the other kids would gang up on him and beat him into submission. He had cried so many nights, feeling the pain of loneliness shrouding him every day. He was at the end of his rope until a hand of a legend reached out to him.

"What a shame. I bet you want to prove those other kids wrong. Don't you child?" He remembered the legend's words the day he met him within an alleyway, curled up in a ball after another brutal beat-down at the hands of those bastard kids, "You want power, so you can righteously show those kids how your clan reigns supreme." The man was a legend. He accepted the hand that he offered him and followed him to his base after promising him not to tell anyone of his secret lair of operations, "I can lend you power."

"I'm coming lord Orochimaru-sama." The young boy gleamed.

xXx

(Hokage's Tower)

xXx

A cloud of smoke appeared within the midst of the small office of Hiruzen. The aged Hokage was revealed smoking on a pipe while looking out of the window.

The Hokage had just finished his huge stack of paperwork with his patented Kage Bunshin no jutsu trick. Good thing too, because that was a lot of paperwork. But they didn't call this old man the Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi), the Purofessā (The Professor), for nothing now. A nickname he had been given by his old teachers, the powerful Senju brothers, Hashirama who was the original Shinobi no Kami and his little brother, a supreme master of the water release nature Tobirama Senju.

Yes, Hiruzen had lived a long life as a successor to the Nidaime Hokage Tobirama Senju who was in return a successor to the Shodai Hokage Hashirama Senju. How Hiruzen was looking forward to having the honour of couching his own handpicked successor in Minato Namikaze.

It just didn't work out well.

But hey, he did what he did. Right?

It was a hard choice for Hiruzen when deciding who his successor was. A apart of him really wanted to choose his own personal trained student Orochimaru to be the Yondaime Hokage, however he knew he'd to put his own personal bias to the side for the future of the leaf, his old teammates, Homura and Koharu, offered him advice on that matter as councillors whom only received power if he and his predecessor or successor were dead.

Other than that they could only offer advice to assure that he made the right calls for the benefit of the leaf.

Their first choice for Yondaime Hokage if it weren't to be Minato would've been Jiraiya as they could feel the malevolence that oozed off of Orochimaru in spades! Hiruzen, however, always insisted that his student was a good shinobi deep down as he always saw the goodness in people. That was why he trusted Ichigo and allowed him to live with Kushina and her Jinchuuriki-baby under probation.

"I wonder how Ichigo-kun and Kushina-chan are getting along." Hiruzen smoked his pipe as he thought about the duo. His musings of the two were broke by a cloud of smoke with leaves surrounding it. "Ah. How are things Turtle? I take it all's gone well with Kushina-chan and Ichigo-kun."

"The two appear to be getting along well my lord." Turtle said respectfully, staying in a kneeled position in the presence of his leader as Hiruzen turned around to nod at him. "Furthermore, Kurosaki-san has shown a bit of his true power, effortlessly crushing the clan leader of the Uchiha-clan with a mere raise of his energy he called 'soul crush' after he and Uzumaki-san were invited to the head's house for dinner I believe. We couldn't hear their conversation when they were inside of the apartment my lord."

Hiruzen let out a hum, stroking his beard, "A samurai was able to effortlessly defeat a jonin of konoha. They're definitely on their way up, unless Ichigo was never allied to Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron) in the first place. He could be a ronin for hire." Hiruzen contemplated.

"I fear what kind of fire power Tetsu no Kuni has if Kurosaki-san happens to be one of them." Turtle admitted. "He has three powers he uses as a substitute for chakra. One is reiryoku which he explained is the potential for a greater power known as reiatsu which was what he used to floor the Uchiha-clan's leader. He gave a cryptic explanation of reishi to Uchiha-san and his wife that it simply allows him to extend his other powers." Turtle reported and Hiruzen's eyes widened before he sat down on his chair and massaged his temples after resting his pipe on the desk.

"I see. That is all Turtle. I thank you for reporting this new information to me." Hiruzen thanked the ANBU, making him nod as he shunshin'd out of existence. Hiruzen let out a sigh, 'Ichigo-kun could either be an extremely powerful asset to us, even as a ronin for hire or a dangerous enemy…"

It was optimistic about the former though.

xXx

(With Kushina – Baby Naruto and Ichigo)

The trio were now on their way back to the home of Kushina with baby Naruto in Ichigo's arms as Zangetsu was sheathed to Ichigo's back while Kushina carried her nappy bag for Naruto on her shoulder. It was a relaxing evening with a delicious meal Kushina enjoyed and had an optimistic feeling that Ichigo sort of liked it too, as he was only allowed to love her cooking damn it!

And tomorrow he would love cooking her when he came back from his work.

Ichigo looked at the walls right before he and Kushina left with baby Naruto as he seen the clan symbols engraved all along the walls. Young Itachi had spoken about it after his father asked him if he wanted to have the red and white fan of the Uchiha-clan stitched on the back of his shirt. Kushina and Mikoto frowned when Fugaku got a little upset with his son for not instantly wanting the clan's symbol on the back of his shirt. Ichigo could understand where he was coming from.

The man was just too prideful.

The idea of Ichigo taking on mercenary work as a ronin for hire came up in the usual inevitable girly conversation that Kushina and Mikoto shared while Fugaku glared at Ichigo whenever he thought the girls weren't looking. Kushina wasn't a worthy woman so naturally Mikoto wondered how Kushina and Ichigo would be able to cope taking care of baby Naruto, to which Ichigo answered he would find work tomorrow.

"Ya know, Ichigo-kun, you don't have to push yourself so hard for little old me." Kushina stated, trying not to bare Ichigo down with a burden of supporting himself, her and her son, "I got a little money left for me from Minato."

"It's okay. I've endured a lot. Repaying your kindness is not much trouble at all." Ichigo told her, noticing the third ANBU reunite with his teammate after he'd separated from them. Probably to inform the Hokage about he witnessed he guessed.

"Ichigo-kun…" Kushina said softly, Ichigo was such an honest man. She truly respected that about him. With such a trait maybe her little Naruto-chan would grow up to be a respectable man just like Ichigo, "Hey, Ichigo-kun?" Ichigo looked at the red haired woman as she flashed back to their run in with Orochimaru, "Are we friends?"

Ichigo closed his eyes, "In your mind we are what we are." He answered mysteriously, making Kushina pout as she folded her arms underneath her bosom.

"That's two things I need to work on." Kushina smiled as glints appeared in her eyes, "You'll love me and my ramen after I get through with you Ichigo-kun." Ichigo hummed as he and Kushina continued to venture home.

xXx

(With Orochimaru)

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" That was what would've been heard if it weren't muffled.

Orochimaru had his hand covering a poor civilian's mouth, (who rudely bumped into him) to stop the bloodcurdling scream from erupting from the man's mouth as blood poured out of the stumps that were once his arms like a running tap left on!

"That should teach you to apologise to someone after barging into them." Orochimaru smirked malevolently, taking a sick sense of satfistication watching the man whimper before he casually and sadistically broke the man's neck, letting him fall to the ground lifelessly.

"Hmmm. It's such a shame the fools around here have such insolence. It hinders them. These people have no ambition of their own and are all content to kiss the wash up old goat's ass." Orochimaru droned as he sealed the dead man's corpse along with the blood in a scroll he pulled out of his flak jacket. Orochimaru ripped off the man's arms so fast and so smooth he actually figured he should shred his skin from the snake he was and evolve into a magician!

Orochimaru the magician sounded just fabulous!

'I'll need to find a suitable body to house my soul if-. NO…When I complete my jutsu.' Orochimaru licked his lips as he started sauntering off to his lair while thinking about all of the potential bodies that could be his, namely that new guy Kurosaki's body, 'Hmm. His body looked strong… just thinking about it gets me all excited.' Orochimaru had to fight the urge to want to release his malevolence as he sauntered through an alleyway.

Ichigo Kurosaki was just one potential host in the long list of many. That red haired woman Kushina Uzumaki was certainly on Orochimaru's list of potential suitors (bodies) to house his soul. She was an Uzumaki. They were known for their long life force and decent amounts of chakra.

It was still unlikely that any Uzumaki-clan member would've gotten the title sannin. Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru all worked extremely hard for their powers, starting from very low or medium chakra reserves and now the three of them had massive reserves of chakra!

They weren't legendary for nothing now!

But even still, a legendary sannin's soul in an Uzumaki's body could equal one frightening shinobi! And they were only two Uzumakis left in the ninja-world! And that was Kushina and Naruto Uzumaki!

He had to target one of them, namely Kushina for obvious reasons.

He smiled eerily at a familiar figure wearing a cloak to conceal his identity, sitting next to a boulder in a leg-crossed position, "Ah. Good to see you could make it Junichi Uchiha."

The boy now known as Junichi Uchiha removed his hood off of his head to reveal his black hair tied back in a ponytail. He smiled at Orochimaru, "I wouldn't miss our time together for the world lord Orochimaru-sama."

"Yes. You want power to lead your clan to greatness." Orochimaru said as he did the ram seal and the uttered the word "Kai" making a bright white light appear before it disappeared to reveal a hidden entrance leading to an underground basement.

Junichi Uchiha frowned, "Not necessarily my lord, but I would love for my clan to be treated equally first and foremost. I hope I haven't offended you my lord." The boy said tentatively.

"That's okay, child. Have you unlocked your sharingan?" Orochimaru asked as he led Junichi down the stairs after activating the illusion of the boulder covering the hole so people wouldn't see it and get suspicious of him. Junichi nodded slowly and activated a one tomoe'd sharingan in each of his red eyes, "Excellent…" Orochimaru opened the door at the bottom of the stairs and allowed himself and Junichi to walk into a room full of bottles with strange liquids in them and a coffin in the corner of the room with the kanji for "Shodai" printed on it.

"You'll make your clan very proud." Orochimaru said, smiling as the boy observed all of his experiments of people's blood who volunteered themselves to Orochimaru to work on their bodies for the greater good. Children were so easy to manipulate, especially ones of such low self-esteem. Junichi couldn't even tell that Orochimaru had no real desire to make him strong and just wanted him for his body, namely the sharingan. And he would get it.

And then Orochimaru would be one step closer to obtaining immortality.

All jutsus in the ninja-world were his and his alone!


	29. The Stoic Ichigo 5

Orochimaru watched with disturbed gleams in his golden eyes and one arm crossed horizontally over his chest while his other one was leaned on top of the one close to his body so he could rest his chin on his hand. His long tongue slithered out of his mouth as he deliciously noted his prey on his hands and knees panting heavily from the training session the snake-man had put the no-talented young Uchiha through in a training room next to the one where all of his bottles and samples of experiment was located.

'Kukuku. He's growing exponentially well under my teachings. The boy's a diamond in the rough. Hmm. It's a shame the fools teaching him within the academy fail to see such rare talent in the boy,' Orochimaru desirously imagined a three tomoe'd sharingan spinning within his crazed fantasy world… a world ruled by a devilish snake. 'Mmmm. It gets me all excited… soon it shall be mine. Kukukuku.'

Orochimaru dashed over to the boy so fast it looked as if he performed a sonido, to a lesser extent than the mighty beings with white masks covering parts of their bodies that one orange haired shinigami and comrades had fought in the past.

Junichi flinched as he was just getting up to try his Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu again. He only had enough chakra for two bursts of his clan's signature jutsu.

Orochimaru rested his hand on the kid's shoulder, "That's enough for today child. No need to strain yourself."

Junichi's eyes gleamed in defiance, "No my lord. I can still fire off another…" He couldn't even finish his sentence as his eyes grew too heavy to keep open and he almost collapsed onto the ground if not for Orochimaru who caught the stubborn boy.

"I know… I don't doubt your loyalty to the course." Orochimaru assured, subtly feeling up the boy he held in his arms with something akin to lecherousness in his golden silts, "But you've nearly burned out your reserves unfortunately. You'll die if you use up all of your chakra."

"Damn I'm so weak." Junichi angrily berated himself, "No wonder I can't pass the genin exam."

Orochimaru forced the boy up straight, keeping his hands on his shoulders while massaging them to loosen the tension within the boy, "Now. Now. Child. You are only human after all. You have your limitations… for now. I shall lead you under my wing to power child." The snake man promised, reassuring the boy of his worries as Orochimaru let the boy go and eased him off in the direction of the door, walking back into the main laboratory room before walking over to the entrance of Orochimaru's secret lair within Konoha.

"Okay, my lord. Thank you for believing in me. I won't let you down!" The boy promised resolutely, getting Orochimaru to chuckle as they past that legit 'fake' coffin with the words, 'Shodai' printed all over it. Well no one said Junichi's master wasn't an experimenter. He had a fetish was inventing extraordinary semblances of stuff belonging to that of his idols.

At least that was what Orochimaru told him.

The cold air of the night penetrated the boy's skin and made him shiver as Orochimaru pushed the door open; dispelling the genjutsu to let the boy out, "Think nothing of it child. I merely wish to see that you get the justice that is rightfully yours." Junichi smiled weakly at Orochimaru and bid him a goodbye with a wave of his hand before tiredly treading outta Orochimaru's hidden liar.

Orochimaru closed the door and sprawled his arms on the door after giving it his back with a moan of sickly pleasure coming from his lips, "I'm so close to obtaining those gorgeous eyes of theirs, I can almost taste it." Orochimaru brought his fingers to his lips, licking them, bringing them to his nose, and then sniffing them indulgently, "Ahhhhhh." Orochimaru moaned.

Orochimaru walked over to the coffin and swung it open with gusto, a corpse of a long black haired man wearing a suit of red armour, black trousers, geta sandals, a konoha forehead protector wrapped around his forehead fell out of the coffin and onto the floor.

Orochimaru picked up the body of Hashirama Senju: The Shodai Hokage and the man whom founded Konohagakure no Sato with his friend and rival Madara Uchiha, the strongest Uchiha to ever grace that lowly clan with his presence alone. They were truly gods among men, especially this man Hashirama Senju.

It was stated that he was so tremendously strong that he could control all nine constructs of chakra and even gave eight of them out to the other villages as a peace-offering to end all wars while allowing the strongest of all constructs of chakras, the Kyuubi no Yoko, to chill around Konoha until it was taken away by Madara and used against Hashirama Senju at the infamous valley of the end.

Not much was known about that fight except that the Kyuubi inexplicably escaped Madara's clutches and leap-frogged away from the man whom could control it effortlessly with those eyes of his. Other than that it was made a known fact that Hashirama erased Madara from the shinobi-world, but never recovered his body… such a shame Orochimaru mused.

But the abilities the snake-man could obtain with Hashirama's cells implanted within his very own being… well let's just say it would certainly be worth the ride. Of course being a teammate of Tsunade Senju, Orochimaru was flawlessly able to grasp a fair bit of what little was divulged of Hashirama's abilities, as the blond female basically bragged about the original Shinobi no Kami's power!

Orochimaru desired that godly power for himself!

He needed it!

He would be one step closer to clasping his true prize… immortality.

Perfection would be his!

He'd have to run some tests say, implanting Hashirama's cells into some chosen worthy subjects to make sure it was safe to infuse the cells of one of the most proficient shinobi to ever saunter the ninja-world with his godly foot-steps… at last that was a mere small price to pay for greatness.

Just thinking about all that fabulous power he could have at his very finger-tips turned Orochimaru on as a lunatic smile found its way to the unstable snake-man's face while a crazed look was evident in his orbs. His upper shoulders started moving up and down as a small sound of amusement came from the madman's lips. His belly expanded like a balloon getting pumped up, before the air was sucked out of it.

And then that balloon exploded and released a full on devilish chortle like a comprehensive amount of water breaking through a broken dam!

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-H A-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA- HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA -HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA- HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA -HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-H A-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA- HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Orochimaru's bloodlust was flaring insanely as a sickening purple aura shrouded his body while the snake-man hysteric laughter continued to vibrate all throughout the room with his hand surrounding his paled face as if attempting to silence his own unstable giggle.

"I've got to calm my bloodlust." Orochimaru told himself, breathing rapidly as he reached into his pocket and took out the scroll he used to seal the poor man's dead body whom he massacred earlier. He licked the scroll frantically, an insane look of a man totally off of his head in his eyes.

He couldn't take it anymore!

He needed blood.

And he desired it right this instant!

He would have it!

Orochimaru sprinted out of his lair within a split second like a man possess, leaping high in the air before landing cat-style on his feet. He reactivated the genjutsu hiding his liar before crouching down on all fours and shifting his head from side to side to eye any potential preys like a hawk's eye with a gruesome grin on his twisted face.

Once he treaded carefully through the streets away from his lair, his eyes landed on a patrolling shinobi walking over a bridge with a torch in his hand. The devilish snake wasted no time as he sprang into action and slithered his way over to the unsuspecting man.

"What's that?" The man flinched as he shifted his body in the direction he thought he heard footsteps only to see nothing. He breathed a sigh of relief, "I must've been hearing things-." He trailed off as a silhouette made its way over to him, putting him on guard as he could see a frightful yet gleeful face edging closer towards him, "Freddy?" The man guessed before it became all too obvious who it was.

It was worse.

"OROCHIMARU!"

Orochimaru embedded a kunai into the man's throat and watched with sickly glee as the poor man choked up blood in his throat. Orochimaru stabbed his whole arm through the man's chest and ripped out his heart, allowing the man to fall lifelessly to the ground, dead. The snake-man licked the man's heart before taking a bite out of it.

"Deliciously filling." Orochimaru droned, sealing up the man's corpse in a scroll. With his bloodlust still not sated, the snake-man stealthily made his way through the village and out of it to begin his hunt for more victims to kill and destroy!

Blood tasted good!

XxX

(White room – Orochimaru)

"I have no more part to play in this chapter..." Orochimaru smirked malevolently.

XxX

Chapter 5

Let No Man Stand In Your Way

The morning sunlight penetrated the stony face of one Ichigo Kurosaki while simultaneously bathing and defeating the darkness of the sky and turning it into a clear-blue one where the birds could soar through the sky while chirping contently. Through all this the stoic one merely sat leg-crossed on a humongous mountain with his hands lay atop of one another in upside palms and on his lap, the typical meditative pose.

For once he was alone… in a sense. Alone in a training field where the aforementioned mountain he was sitting on was along with a waterfall, dozens of trees, tree posts for training purposes, a memorial stone where fallen ninja had their names engraved on, and a minefield for whatever reason Ichigo did not give a rat's rear end to know why it was there.

There were a couple of people at and/or near the memorial stone but since Ichigo didn't know, and didn't care to know, them he was alone in this sense.

Ichigo's massive cleaver-like broadsword known as the mighty Zangetsu was stabbed into the ground while the white-faced being composed of reishi silently chilled within the depths of his mind, begrudge to give Ichigo any of its power, but knowing it was all for naught to resist not handing over its tremendous power to mighty one as the orange haired shinigami tamed the devilish being within him like a bullfighter bringing a bull to its knees!

But digressing off of that subject Ichigo had managed to get himself some work from the old man in the big tower within this village, hence why he was by himself, as it was for this very reason why Hiruzen decided to call off the ANBU watching him at least for the time being. Now he was here meditating after going back to Kushina's apartment after seeing Hiruzen and getting himself some work.

xXx

(Flashback)

A soft, delicate, and tiny grip was felt on the tip of Ichigo's nose as the orange haired man was sprawled on the couch of Kushina's apartment in only his kimono pants he wore from yesterday, and a blanket over him given to him by the lovely Kushina Uzumaki.

Speaking of the devil… "Uh oh! Someone has your nose Ichigo-kun!" Kushina teased in her usual jesting manner.

Ichigo merely opened his eyes to see the blond haired baby blinking at him wearing bright orange baby pyjamas and a dummy in his mouth, being held up by his red haired mother who was crouched in front of the orange haired man. Ichigo sat up, and tiredly rubbed the sleep out of his eye before a yawn came from his mouth.

"Gotta get that sleep outta your eye, right Ichigo-kun?" Kushina asked with a huge grin on her face. Ichigo nodded his head before Kushina got down to business, standing up with baby Naruto held in her arms, "Are you still gonna go around to Sarutobi-sama's tower and ask for some work?"

Ichigo stood up, letting out a grunt of confirmation before reaching for the bag of the clothes bought for him by Kushina.

"Do you want any breakfast before you go, Ichigo-kun?" Kushina asked and Ichigo nodded, making Kushina smile brightly, "Alrighty then! I'll meet you in the kitchen, okay?" Ichigo's hum was all the red haired woman was getting out of him before she sauntered off into the kitchen to give Ichigo some time to change.

"As a warning, Ichigo, blood will be on your hands as of today, are you positive you wish to go through with this?" Zangetsu's calm voice echoed throughout Ichigo's inner world.

Ichigo simply took off his kimono pants before pulling out a pair of black hakama pants and putting them on, 'All evil shall be eliminated.' Ichigo replied, his hazel eyes turning as cold as the North Pole.

The devilish composed being of reishi chuckled insanely within his inner world, "OH! I taught ya well King! HAHAHAHA! Why don't you let me out and we can have a nice little saunter around this world while we put any and all clowns to…' It coughed abruptly, "-Sleep… if they get in our line of fire of course. Heh! Whatddya think King?" A 'cu-ckoo' inexplicably whistled through the air, making the hollow chuckle dryly.

"Meh. It was worth a shot."

Ichigo ignored the white being composed of reishi and pulled out a medium green tiger-patterned (on the back) kimono top before throwing it over himself and tying it shut with a black obi. He slipped on a pair of blue sandals he wore yesterday and walked into the kitchen to be greeted by a lecherous growl from the red haired woman while baby Naruto sat in his high-chair while banging the task with his hands like a wild cave baby.

"Grrr, Ichigo-kun, who's gonna be your tiger queen?" Kushina joked while Ichigo merely looked at her, making her sigh as she realized her joke hadn't had the desired effects on Ichigo as she wanted it to. So she put on her poker-face to dish Ichigo an ultimatum, "What do you want for breakfast Ichigo-kun? You have two choices, and I'm positive you'll pick the right one!"

"Go on." Ichigo breathed out easily.

Kushina grinned with her eyes shut as she held up two-fingers, "I, the bested ramen-maker ever, can make you a dish of my fabulous ramen, dattebane!" She was half expecting Ichigo to cut her off with a high-five or something, hence why she stopped herself as she believed she'd be making her roomie ramen right there and then. But when it was clear he was patiently waiting to hear the other choice she mentioned it in a sight lackadaisical manner.

"Or you can have plain old boring cereal… and you have to eat the whole box... dattebane!"

Ichigo closed his eyes for a second but it felt like an hour to the red haired woman before he reopened his eyes and started sauntering forward to Kushina's confusion before he bent down near the cupboard, opened it up, and pulled out a large salad bowl.

Kushina's jaw dropped ludicrously, "You can't really be serious?! Ramen's the bested food in the whole wide world!"

"I'd rather have cereal." Ichigo responded truthfully, making Kushina cross her arms underneath her bosom as she did her best attempt to scowl at Ichigo, but due to the laid-back attitude of hers, and her beautiful face it came off as a pout that adorned her features all the more.

"Fine!" Kushina pulled open the top cupboard where she kept all her none-brand food products before pulling out a plain white rectangle box with two black lines encasing the words 'cereal' in black letters. Where other people had Lucky-Charms, Kushina had cereal. It didn't come with a prize nor did it have any favour to it, it was just meant to fill one's belly, like water was meant to quench one's thirst.

In fact one could see that Kushina didn't have any named products of any kind. Whereas some may've bought a packet of Maryland from the shop after paying for it obviously, Kushina had cookie – one big, white packet with black lines encasing the word cookie in big, bold, black letters, and only one massive cookie in it. Her jam was plain and her bread was smashed as she couldn't afford fresh bread… good kami, how did this poor woman stay perfectly healthy with cheap, gone-off (more or less) food like this?!

Well It wasn't like she had a choice with her baby boy Naruto-chan to tend to, she had to buy the necessities necessary to take care of him, such as nappies, dummies, (he had been sucking on that same one for five months now) clothes, a crib, bottle, toys, a baby travel pack if she ever wanted to go out somewhere with Naruto, and baby foods such as jar food and giving him milk.

Damn it Minato… now he looked like a genius since it seemed he took the easy way out leaving Kushina to raise baby Naruto on her own.

"I hope you like plain old no flavoured cereal!" Kushina hollered, her frown increasing while baby Naruto giggled as if he found his mother's behaviour amusing.

Ichigo nodded and took the cereal box off of the pouting Kushina before he opened it up, and poured all of the contents into the bowl without a second thought. He looked at Kushina, "Milk?"

Kushina gained a glint in her eye as a devious smile spread itself across her face, "Oh. I'm sorry Ichigo-kun. I don't have any milk left. Ya know I'm just your average girl." Ichigo stared at her, wondering if this was her diabolical plan to get him to eat and enjoy ramen. Naruto must've thought she won because he seemingly pointed at his mother while incoherently rambling something that sounded like 'winner'.

'Naruto-chan knows mommy's won this one. She's gonna be making Ichigo-kun her bested ramen ever any minute now, dattebane!' Kushina thought with a triumphant grin on her face as she referred to herself in the third person. Her grin fell off of her face as a look of curiosity was replaced over it as she heard the sound of a running tap coming from behind her.

She turned around and gasped at what she saw, "Ichigo-kun!" Ichigo had just found an alternative to milk… water! "You can't eat cereal like that, dattebane!" Kushina was dumbfounded as she waved her arms around helplessly.

Ichigo turned off the tap amidst the claps that came from baby Naruto as if he understood the ingenious way the Shinin no Yōna Ichigo (The Deathly Strawberry) had managed to get away from eating ramen.

Ichigo looked at Kushina, shrugging his shoulders before reaching into the drawer to pull out a spoon. He walked over to the table and sat by baby Naruto. He dipped the spoon into the bowl and lifted the spoon to reveal little crisp-like bits of cereal flooded by cold water on the spoon before shoving the spoon into his mouth and swallowing it without hesitance.

It had no taste, but again neither was a no-name brand cereal nor was water meant to have favour. This was one thing that reminded Ichigo of his own world. He could remember sauntering to the supermarket with his whole family before it was just himself, his dad and his two cute little sisters after his mamma died. They would often walk straight past the no-name brand products since they had enough money to afford brand products.

Thinking about that made Ichigo realize he took his pervious life for granted. Sure it wasn't perfect but at least he and his family weren't poor like he was now with Kushina. He lived in a very nice house, small, but still very well furnished and decorated, and his father supported them well enough that Ichigo never really worried about the income Isshin brought in or the bills he paid. That was probably due to the fact that he was a kid then and hence didn't have a job except to go to school and gain an education so he could be a respectable member of society. Now he was a man living with a blond haired baby and his beautiful mother who kindly took him in in the first place.

As far as Ichigo was concerned it was his job to support Kushina and Naruto as much as he could.

Even with the impassive façade he was putting on, Ichigo was still a fair-man that would pay for his own way in life with his own two hands one way or the other.

Kushina was gobsmacked while she continued to watch Ichigo eat his watered cereal without a twitch of his lips or a blink of his eyes to betray his feelings, 'That's not fair; Ichigo-kun's a big meanie! I'd a special dish I was gonna make him as well.' She then realized just how fast the speedy-man shot past her to the sink. "Whoa! Ichigo-kun! You were like an orange blur, kinda like the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)."

Ichigo momentarily paused his devouring of the cereal to stare up at Kushina while Naruto held out his hands to Ichigo's breakfast as if he wanted some. His gaze alone prompted Kushina to explain what that technique was.

"Oh yeah, the Hiraishin no Jutsu was created by my idol, the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju-sama. It allows the user to teleport to a marked location instantaneously. For example, If Tobirama-sama was still alive and he'd marked the Uchiha-clan compound then he could dash there from anywhere around the village in an instant." Kushina explained happily, "Minato-san actually earned his name as Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash) by using Tobirama-sama's technique. Minato-san played a prominent role in Konoha merging victorious in the Third Great Shinobi War, using Tobirama's technique. He might be as strong as Sarutobi-sama." Kushina mused. "The cream of the crop though is definitely the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama-sama, followed by his younger brother, Tobirama-sama, at least that's what lady Tsunade-sama told me."

Ichigo nodded his head in acceptance. He didn't miss the 'san' that Kushina added to Minato's name. Well that made sense since she had been alone for a year, no less; left by the man she once loved whom gave up his life for the sake of the village. There was always bound to be some slight resentment held towards Minato by Kushina since the man basically put the village before his own family, going as far as to turn his own son into the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko.

Subconsciously, Kushina was resenting Minato for what he did to Naruto a year ago.

"They must be strong then." Ichigo murmured, continuing to eat his cereal while a wave of excitement surged through Kushina.

"Yep! Lady Tsunade-sama would know since she's related to the Senju-clan. Tobirama-sama's her granduncle and Hashirama-sama's her granddad. She told me how her grandfather helped bring in all of the clans including the one I'm from under one roof under his protection, but it was Tobirama-sama who stabilized the clans and united them all, kinda like one big happy family!"

Ichigo hummed as a certain clan came to his mind, "The Uchiha-clan." Kushina stiffened up at the mention of her friend's clan, "What of them."

"What of them Ichigo-kun?" Kushina repeated with an air of innocence around her, making Ichigo stop eating as he merely put his spoon into the bowl and casted a gaze upon Kushina that made her gulp. She couldn't tell what he was feeling within those hazel orbs of his that held not even a hint of emotion, but she knew he expected that she knew something of the most hated clan within Konoha.

"They don't feel welcomed within this village." Ichigo said calmly.

"Okay," Kushina sighed in a defeated manner, "I dunno much of the Uchiha clan just that they were given a position of power within Konoha as the police force by the Hokage."

"Which one?" Ichigo asked.

Kushina frowned, "That's what I wanna know! Hiruzen-sama keeps all the cards close to his chest! It could've been Hashirama-sama, Tobirama-sama, or Hiruzen-sama! One of 'em sent the Uchiha-clan to the back of the village and made 'em the police force." Well that made sense since the police force couldn't exactly be located in the middle of the village now.

Who was to say a criminal wouldn't break out of prison! If that was to happen then the criminal would be hard pressed trying to flee the village while avoiding the endless masses of shinobi littering the streets of the Uchiha-clan compound and the village as a whole IF the prisoner even managed to escape the compound of the Uchiha-clan.

"Though that's not why they're hated." Kushina continued, a saddened expression on her face, "I-It was... the Kyuubi." Ichigo looked at Kushina, fascination sinking into his orbs, "Rumour has it that it had sharingan eyes on the night of which it attacked."

Ichigo grunted in calm indifference. People obviously died that night. Mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandparents, aunties, and uncles all perished amidst at what would seem like inexplicable attack, but of course nothing was done without reason. Someone sought to eradicate the village. And those fortunate survivors had to bear the despair and sadness caused to them by losing their love ones. Ichigo could remember the pain he felt losing his own mother, which turned to hatred. With nothing to vent his hatred at Ichigo blamed himself for the reason why his mother was decimated.

This was far from the same. The people of Konohagakure no Sato had a target to vent their hate on and unfortunately it was the Uchiha-clan that suffered the villagers unspoken rage and fury, backing them off into a corner like a dozen of trapped cats.

It still left the question of how an Uchiha was able to control the mighty construct of chakra sealed into Naruto. Ichigo had an idea, flashing back to the conversation he had with Fugaku and Mikoto about the sharingan.

"Illusion?" Kushina blinked a few times at Ichigo's question, "Do you believe the Kyuubi was under an illusion the night it attacked?" Kushina made an 'O' with her mouth. It was going to take a while until she got used to Ichigo, as he was a man of so few words.

"Well that's the only way I can see the Kyuubi taking orders from anyone if it were told to thump a village dattebane!" Kushina hollered. That would make sense since gossip was spreading around Konoha about the Kyuubi having sharingan eyes, even genjutsu-masters admitted that the mightiest of all constructs of chakras was under some sort of genjutsu, making Kushina's best friend Mikoto Uchiha along with the rest of the Uchiha clan feel uncomfortable as the villagers' treatment of them was too much to handle.

"I just wish the villagers wouldn't glare so intensely at Mikoto-chan though." Kushina admitted, a melancholic expression on her face as she thought about her tormented friend and her friend's clansmen. No one should've to be hated so.

Lucky, Kushina was brought out of her thoughts by baby Naruto making whimpering sounds while reaching his tiny hands at Ichigo's cereal, making grabbing motions with his tiny hands.

"Oh look who's hungry!" Kushina smiled brightly, walking over to Naruto before picking him up in her arms, "Momma's little boy's hungry, yes you are." Kushina tickled baby Naruto's stomach. Ichigo calmly slurped up his cereal while Kushina fed baby Naruto a tin of green baby food from a jar. Afterward Ichigo sauntered into the living room, grabbed Zangetsu, sheathed him to his back, and prepared to leave for the Hokage's office.

"Take care of yourself, Ichigo-kun!" Kushina declared, standing by the front-door with baby Naruto in her arms while Ichigo stood on the outside with Zangetsu on his back. Ichigo hummed as Kushina held baby Naruto out to Ichigo, the little blond haired-Cat-faced baby's hands grabbing hold of Ichigo's nose which brought a small giggle out of Kushina.

"Someone's got your nose again Ichigo-kun!" Kushina teased while baby Naruto laughed adorably. Ichigo merely brought his thumb up, caressing baby Naruto's whiskered-cheek lightly, receiving a sigh out of Kushina who couldn't stop the small smile from spreading across her face. That was the best she was going to get out of the stone-faced samurai.

With that over and done with, Ichigo sauntered down the road with the ANBU following him closely in the shadows while Kushina watched him disappear in the distance before walking inside with baby Naruto in her arms.

xXx

(Later That Morning)

Ichigo made his way over to the Hokage tower, and casually walked up the stairs before standing outside of Hiruzen's office. He lifted his right arm up and banged a couple of times on the door. One knock turned into two, then three, then four, until Ichigo deduced that maybe Hiruzen was sleeping since he sensed his reiatsu signature in his office.

"Oh… come in, come in." Came a sputter from inside of the room. Ichigo turned the doorknob, and sauntered on inside to see Hiruzen with what looked like markings all over the side of his face and drool coming out of his mouth, "Ah. Ichigo-kun, what can I do for you my boy?"

Ichigo allowed the silence to rule the aged Hokage for a couple of seconds before he spoke up, "Money." Hiruzen looked at the powerful orange haired samurai with interest. "Kushina can't support me forever."

Hiruzen made a continuous humming noise to let Ichigo know he understood what he meant. He was aware of the fact that Kushina wasn't a rich woman since her husband was dead and he wasn't Hokage for long. Add to the fact Minato never belonged to any clan, so he didn't have a compound or estate, just a house that Kushina didn't want to live in since it brought too many bad memories of the past rising to the surface.

"I can understand your dilemma Ichigo-kun. However…" Hiruzen trailed off, not wanting to frustrate the man by telling him he couldn't be allowed out of the ANBU's sights.

"You can send your guards to keep an eye on me if you so desire to. It makes no difference." Ichigo told the old man indifferently, "I shall go out and make some money, and then I'll come back. It's as simple as that."

Hiruzen sighed while he reached into his drawer and pulled out his pipe. He lit it before inhaling tobacco smoke and exhaling it out shaped in a circle. 'The boy's obviously a stubborn one.' Not to mention extremely powerful, if the report Turtle gave him was anything to go by, defeating a clan head, a Konoha Jonin no less, was no small feat. 'Perhaps giving him something small as a test could prove the boy's loyalty to Konoha.'

Someone skilful would obviously have to escort Ichigo on his mission and report the man's progress to Hiruzen once they return, 'And I know just the person capable of this.' And who knew? If all goes according to plan than Konoha could have themselves a powerful ally in the samurai.

"Alright then Ichigo-kun, I have a job for you to take." Hiruzen told him, receiving a grunt out of Ichigo as the old man reached into his drawer and took out a folder. He opened up the folder and skimmed through it before taking out a file. "It's a bounty mission. Target, Manabu Yamada, an A-rank nuke-nin, wanted dead or alive for fleeing his village of Iwagakure no Sato. Since then he's gone on to commit several murders, some known genin and even chunin. Last been sighted in Kaminari no Kuni (the Land of Lightning), proceed with caution." Hiruzen briefed the samurai on his chosen mission, sliding the file over to him.

Ichigo picked it up, "It's already done."

Hiruzen allowed a small smile to grace his features, "Ichigo-kun, my boy, I do believe you could make a fine asset to Konoha." Hiruzen said optimistically, getting neither a hum nor a grunt out of Ichigo, "Of course you probably just want to look after Kushina-chan after she took you in out of the kindness of her heart."

"I carry my own weight." Ichigo stated simply.

"That's a very admirable trait you have Ichigo-kun." Hiruzen replied, "Young Naruto could grow up to be a mature man with a role model such as yourself around him, guiding him on his way to becoming a respectable member of Konoha." Ichigo closed his eyes, reopening them after a second to stare at Hiruzen.

"I shall be sending an elite ANBU to observe your progress if that's okay with you?" A smooth nod of the head from the samurai let Hiruzen know it was, "Splendid." Hiruzen smiled, "I have to say I'm intrigue with how well you'll complete this mission, assuming you do that is."

"That I will old man." The Ginger-haired samurai assured, "I can assume you've been given a brief of my abilities by that ANBU outside." Ichigo gestured his head to where the three ANBU were stationed.

"Indeed." Hiruzen replied, making a signal for the ANBU hidden in the shadows to appear, to which all three did with the woman holding onto the ten year old purple haired girl as she shunshin'd her into the hokage's office along with Turtle.

"I've given Ichigo-kun a job to do. You three are relieved of your duties of observing him." Hiruzen told the three, getting calm nods from the male and the female ANBU elites.

"Awww! But I wanted to go on the mission." Cat whined and then looked at Ichigo, pouting, "You're just lucky you're so strong!"

"Rest easy, child." Bear commanded, making the purple haired girl yelp, "We understand lord Hokage-sama. And thank you for giving us this opportunity to watch someone of great power such as Kurosaki-san. The trust you've displayed in us as been of most touching my lord."

Hiruzen closed his eyes, smiling at the trio, "Oh. You humble me my dear. Rest assured you've all done a fine job. Now, I believe a few hours rest can't do you all any harm. After all you three are only human. And humans need their rest... no?" Turtle and Bear bowed their heads respectfully, with Bear having to scold the purple haired girl with a slap on the back of her head as she insolently crossed her arms over her chest, suggesting that she was hot-stuff.

Hiruzen merely let out a heartily chuckle as he watched the three saunter out of his office, or in Cat's case march out of his office with a pout. "The young ones these days are so boisterous." The wise old timer commented earnestly, smiling. Ichigo, despite not looking at the girl, sought to figure out what made her tick while forever keeping himself calm and corrected.

Her insolence could be blamed for the fact that she didn't have any parents, or maybe, like Ichigo, she witnessed her parent or parents massacred before her eyes. It had only been a year since the Kyuubi's rampage on Konohagakure no Sato, so it was a possibility that she was suffering inside. That could be counted for why she'd put on an insolent façade to convince herself that she was a tough girl when in reality she was as soft as a kitten.

"It's good to see that you're not blaming that girl for her attitude. You've matured immensely, Ichigo." Zangetsu complimented, hearing a mentally thought grunt come from the orange haired samurai in response.

Ichigo pivoted on his heel to prepare to leave Hiruzen's office.

"You'll find the ANBU assigned to observe you on your job waiting for you by the South entrance in three hours. I'm sure you can ask Kushina-chan to show you where that is." Hiruzen told Ichigo, seeing a slight nod of the orange haired man's head as he almost forgot about that before he walked out of Hiruzen's office altogether, leaving the aged Hokage with his thoughts.

Hiruzen spun around on his wheelie-chair and smoked his pipe while looking at the stars in the still night sky.

He soon turned around to face the wall that had four pictures hung on it, one of himself in his younger days, one of a blond haired man that looked like Naruto's originator, one of a white-haired man that had a look that just said he was a leader, and the last one was a picture of a long brown haired man wearing red armour with a goofy smile on his face like the blond haired man's own goofy smile.

These were the Hokages. In order of the long brown haired warrior known as the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju, whose picture was on the far left side of the wall. Then came his brother, the white haired man and Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju; his picture was wedged between his brother's picture and Hiruzen's picture who had a genuine smile on his face. Lastly, on the right side of the wall, was a picture of the Yondaime Hokage, Naruto's father, and the man who saved the village from destruction by ensnarling the Kyuubi into his own son, Minato Namikaze.

Hiruzen looked at the pictures of his two predecessors, the ones that trusted him with the throne and title of Hokage and Purofessā respectively, as if seeking some sort of guidance from his old teachers.

'Let's hope my judgement wasn't misplaced in Ichigo-kun.'

Hisoka-like Orochimaru


	30. The Stoic Ichigo 6

**Chapter Seven**

**Follow the Yellow Brick Road**

XxX

(With Mikoto)

"Ooooh! That Fugaku! Does the clan really mean more to him then his own family?" Mikoto thunderously stormed into her house, making sure to keep her voice down so Sasuke didn't start crying again.

The black haired woman stomped off upstairs to grab Sasuke's diaper bag and her own handbag for her day-out at the red-haired beauty's home with her son while muttering to herself, "I know he's been feeling upset with the way the villagers look at us, but that's no excuse for cutting off ties with the nice ones like Kushina-chan. He might even be good friends with Ichigo if he drops his ego."

Mikoto shook her head at this. She loved her husband. She really did. It was just that his arrogance had to be toned down, if only slightly. So what if they were in the back section of Konoha. It didn't make a difference to Mikoto, because at the end of the day, they were still the Police Force! What other clans could wholeheartedly, from the bottom of their hearts, say they had a position of such significance.

Not many.

Sure the Uchiha-clan were viewed upon with scorn in the eyes of many, and blamed for what happened a year ago when the Kyuubi no Yoko infiltrated Konoha, but Mikoto believed if they just kept at it, putting their all for the sake of Konoha, then the villagers would soon see sense and realize that them as a whole didn't have anything to do with the invasion of the Kyuubi.

Mikoto could understand to a certain extent why the majority of Konoha's populace would accuse the Uchiha-clan in playing a part in the attack of the Kyuubi no Yoko since all Uchiha-clan members were well-known to stick together after the pinnacle of Uchiha, Madara Uchiha, abandoned his own tribe and village in favour of his own ambition.

In fact the only other Uchiha besides the heavenly one that wasn't stereotyped with the rest of them was already dead. Just thinking about the poor uncharacteristic Uchiha whom lost his life in the Third Great Shinobi War put a saddened expression on Mikoto's face as she made it to Sasuke's room and started gathering his things for their trip to Kushina's home after putting Sasuke down on his crib.

"I expected Obito to be around a lot longer than he did." Mikoto confessed to herself. The boy worked hard to get to where he was as well. Many of the Uchiha-clan members were in all actuality average/mediocre ninjas in despite of the fact that many of them believed that they were all as talented as Itachi and/or Shisui (or close enough.)

Obito was even worse than mediocre.

He graduated rock-bottom of his class in the academy, something that no Uchiha had ever been poor enough to accomplish, but Obito made it possible.

It was why the clan ostracized the outgoing boy, because they believed he brought shame upon them add to the fact that he was nothing like them.

In despite of this fact they still desired vengeance on Obito's teammate for what he held in his left eye-socket. To them, he stole it off of Obito, and was highly unfit to wield the Uchiha-clan's Kekkai Genkai.

Shaking her head at the bitter memories of the past, Mikoto continued to put extra diapers, a bottle and baby formula in case Sasuke got hungry, and his favourite blue blanket for when he got too tired and wanted to sleep into his travel-pack while trying to think positive.

"What done is done. There's no need to hold a grudge against Kakashi for something that wasn't his fault." Mikoto smiled at her son and tickled his tummy, making him laugh adorably, "I hope you don't turn out like the rest of them Sasuke-chan. Keep your childish tendencies for as long as possible, okay, sweetie?"

Sasuke just clapped his hands together and Mikoto took that as verification.

"Close enough."

xXx

(With Itachi)

It was the normal routine for the wonder child of the Uchiha-clan. He sauntered through the compound in the usual typical weather, never cloudy, but never too bright either. The girls would stop what they were doing and gawk at him with hearts in their eyes as if they were being graced to watch a god walk among them. The elderly folks would walk over to him and ruffle his hair, telling him how proud they were of him for displaying the Uchiha-clan in a positive light for being so talented.

He would greet his aunt who was normally outside sweeping her store before continuing on his way to his friend's house so the two gifted children of the tribe of matrix-wielding-eyes-users could venture to the academy together.

Ah… it was business as usual for Itachi Uchiha.

He went through all of that and now he found himself outside of his friend's house with his backpack over his left shoulder. He lifted his hand up, and knocked once on the door in a composed manner before banging the door again since no one was answering the door.

Eventually Itachi could see the golden doorknob rattling slightly as if a baby had gotten his hands on it and had shaken it rapidly before it turned and emitted a clicking sound. The door swung open to reveal an old man with unkempt grey hair falling over his own unique blue headband that had the symbol for the Uchiha-clan printed on it.

He had light wrinkly skin and the distinctive onyx eyes that most Uchiha had. His attire consisted of a dark red kimono top with the white and red fan of the Uchiha-clan on the back of it along with a pair of dark red kimono pants held up by a black obi tied around his waist and a brown walking stick in his hand.

"Ah. Kagami-sama, it's good to you. Is Shisui ready to head to the academy?" Itachi asked respectfully to the old man now identified as Kagami Uchiha.

Kagami Uchiha was one of the oldest Uchiha within the clan. He had been partnered up with the Shinobi no Yami, Danzo Shimura, himself and fought alongside him and the Nidaime Hokage in the Second Great Shinobi War. He poured his heart and soul in very battle he fought for his tribe but was also loyal to Tobirama and knew it was him whom put his clan in the back part of the village but stood by him wholeheartedly.

Now he just wished his fellow clansmen would do the same.

Kagami smiled at the boy, "It's good to see you sunny. Shisui should be down in a minute." Itachi nodded his head at that. Kagami liked the boy, and would often praise his maturity, especially after what Itachi witnessed during the Third Great Shinobi War only a couple of years ago. No kid so young should've to witness the horror Itachi saw through his young eyes that day.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

He could remember hearing Itachi's horrified scream seeing all those corpses littering the ground like toys thrown to the ground by a disorganized and untidy child. Usually traumatizing moments would effectively turn someone into a psycho serial killer willing to slaughter anyone deemed a bad person.

But instead Itachi did the opposite. He closed himself off from the world and locked his emotions away so he wouldn't have to deal with them, and that was why Kagami praised the boy's maturity for not succumbing to the clan's cursed hatred.

"Hey, dad, is that Itachi?" A young boy's voice was heard from behind the old man before a short boy roughly around Itachi's size walked into view with his short wild black spiky hair and light skin in full display.

He wore a purple long sleeved turtleneck shirt over a short-sleeved black t shirt, three-quarters black jeans, and black sandals on his feet.

The boy's eyes lit up once he seen his best friend Itachi Uchiha, "Hey, Itachi. Sup man? I'm all ready to go when you are pal."

"That's good to know, Shisui." Itachi smiled at his chum.

Shisui grinned and walked past his father before the old man's voice rang out in his ears, "Aren't you forgetting something son?" Shisui turned his head to look at his father and blinked twice at him. The old man chuckled earnestly, and reached his hand at the side to pull off a two-strap backpack off of the coat hanger, and dangled it in front of his son.

Shisui rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry, dad, I forgot about that."

His dad threw him his backpack which he caught with his ease, "No worries, son. We all make mistakes as we are only human. It's how we take notice to these mistakes and rectify them that matter my boy." Shisui nodded but groaned nevertheless. His father always had to give him the speech every time he did something wrong.

Kagami chortled and looked at Itachi, "So how's that father and mother of yours doing sunny?"

"All is well Kagami-sama. Mother invited company around yesterday in the form of Kushina-san and her friend Ichigo-san whom recently arrived in the village I believe. Father does not seem to like Ichigo-san much. Oh, and mother says hello." Kagami hummed thoughtfully. That would mean this Ichigo-guy beat his father, the head of the Uchiha-clan no less.

The only people Fugaku ever disliked were those that had the Uchiha-clan's Kekkei Genkai but not Uchiha-blood in them and those that defeated him in battle. His sense of pride in his own abilities and duties to the clan were that great.

That was an impressive feat of that Ichigo-man. Perhaps he should see Fugaku later and get the details of that.

"Okay. Well you two better get going. You don't want to be late for the academy." Kagami recommended.

Shisui patted Itachi on the shoulder, "Hold on tight buddy, I'll zap us on outta here in a jiffy," Shisui grinned and Itachi just hummed in acceptance to his friend's words. Even for a small boy his age Shisui could already pull off one burst of the Shunshin no Jutsu (the Body Flicker Technique) a day, and could travel a considerable distance with that one burst of the well-known short speed jutsu.

He was going to go far, his father just knew it as he watched the boys disappear amidst a cloud of smoke with leaves surrounding it.

XxX

(Elsewhere)

XxX

"Oh wow, I can't wait to go to the academy, and see Naoko-chan! She may not like me but that won't stop me from trying to win her affections." An optimistic boy said holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand as he jogged off to the academy, "I'm uber determined for this to work."

It was all the boy had; his determination since he was orphaned at a very young age. The poor kid didn't even realize that made him a prime target for scientists to run experiments on him after kidnapping him since no one would miss the kid. He was under the radar. For all the instructors at the academy cared for, he could simply run away and never be thought of again.

The predator hiding in the shadows liked that a lot.

As soon as the boy walked past the alleyway, a pair of grey hands shot out of it and covered his mouth and nose. The boy hyperventilated with panic written all over his face as he tussled and turned in a bid to free himself, but his captor had a strong hold on him.

"Come now, child. You'll be fulfilling an even greater cause by being an lab-rat for my experiments," The boy froze at the sound of the smooth whisper.

'O-Orochimaru? One of the legendary sannin…? What does he want with me?' The terrified child thought before feeling his legs dragged across the dirt ground, 'N-No, p-please! P-please d-don't t-take m-me! I've g-got a d-date t-to tend to.' He promised himself that he would ask out Naoko one way or the other. It couldn't end like this for him.

But it seemingly did.

The no-named fodder boy felt a wood breaking blow delivered to the side of his neck. His world blacked out as the silent sound of his bouquet of flowers for his would-be girlfriend hitting the ground alerted him of his passing over to the unconscious side of the force (chakra).

"There we go. See how easy that is." Orochimaru smiled, throwing the sleeping boy in a trash-bag that he threw over his shoulder, "You should feel honoured. You're going to be of use for me child." Orochimaru sauntered off to his secret lair while licking his lips at the concept of inserting Hashirama's cells into the children he had captured earlier.

He would have enjoyed using stronger bodies for this procedure, but it was too risky. He could only get children and men that didn't have a family. Any known shinobi would alert the Hokage of something fishy with their disappearances. Hiruzen would classify them as nuke-nins (missing ninjas), and strengthen the security to avoid a repeat of a similar scenario happening. Orochimaru didn't need that.

But kids… Kids were free to do what they wanted. If one left the village it wasn't the Hokage's problem until a client requested of him to find said missing child. Orochimaru could easily slither around that problem by taking orphans such as this kid in the trash bag.

Such a shame though. Orochimaru would have to wait until he was ready to leave this village before getting his hands on the bodies of Kushina and Ichigo. Just the very idea of getting such interesting test subjects to experiment on was enough to get Orochimaru excited, but he refrained from doing so.

His bloodlust had been surging like mad lately, he needed to control it.

Even after coming back from his killing spree he still felt hungry for more blood.

He longed for it.

And he would have it.

But immortality came first.

xXx

(Southern Entrance of Konoha)

The red haired woman sat on the bench provided for tourists visiting the leaf waiting for her orange haired roommate whom assured her that he would meet her here in despite of the fact that he didn't know where it was, but then again he could always feel out for her reiatsu/chakra signature. At least that was what Ichigo had told the red haired beauty before he wondered off to find somewhere to meditate and to clear his thoughts.

Baby Naruto sat joyously on his mother's lap while Kushina dangled her legs off of the bench as if she were a little child on a grown up's chair, but her feet occasionally brushed the pavement, making her pout. Damn. Why did she have to grow up? Not mentally or in age. Grow up as in height. Couldn't Kami have stopped her growth before she got this tall? It just wasn't fair that she couldn't swing her legs off of the bench freely; it was something she adored doing since it was free, simple and most of all fun to do.

…Dattebane!

A sigh escaped Kushina's lips. That was just one of the many downfalls of being a grown-up, but there were a lot of positives of being an adult too. Like for instance if she so wanted to she could buy herself some alcohol. She wouldn't because she wasn't a drinker or a smoker, but if she was, no one would stop her from getting wasted and babbling nonsense that would drive someone totally insane.

"C'mon Ichigo-kun, don't keep a girl waiting." Kushina sighed, looking at the file containing the man whom Ichigo was tasked with the responsibility of apprehending or outright extinguishing from existence depending on the circumstances, "How long does it take for a big muscle-man to decide whether to capture or to kill someone already?" Kushina asked herself.

Not long after thinking that sentence over did Kushina frown. She couldn't truthfully say she had massacred anyone in her somewhat short career of a shinobi. Maybe it was because the Hokage was there for her, since she was a member of a prestigious clan with a strong Kekkai Genkai. He didn't want to rush her into anything and thus ruin her potential.

The Uzumakis' potential to become a fearsome clan could be divulged to the fact that they had long life-spans, most didn't start losing their good looks at age ninety at the minimum. That stretched out their peaks, allowing them to grow stronger even as generations past them by, add to the fact they were masters of sealing. Rumours had it that it was mentioned an Uzumaki with a wide range of fuinjutsu could trap a living shinobi within a scroll!

Now that was frightening.

It was no wonder why Konoha brought Kushina over to Konoha in order for her to be a powerful shinobi all in the name of the Will of Fire! It was why she was nurtured and had her innocence protected as Hiruzen felt that was the best course of action for the red haired woman of the Uzumaki-clan.

Maybe Kushina would still be in the shinobi forces if Minato hadn't did what he did.

Naruto needed a parent.

She couldn't afford to die no matter what…

Kushina jumped a bit as well as the other passing civilians and shinobi as a swish noise echoed throughout the area before the green-wearing-kimono samurai stood tall in his emotionless glory.

"Hey," Ichigo said.

"Ichigo-kun!" Kushina said brightly, jumping up with Naruto in her arms, the baby giggling at the sudden jump that felt like a fun ride to him. With her arms wrapped around her son, the red haired woman pouted at the orange haired samurai, "What took you so long anyway?"

"I got lost on the road to life." Ichigo excused and Kushina's pout increased.

"That's almost as cheesy as the excuses Scarecrow-chan makes up." Kushina hollered and Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Who was that guy?

Ichigo would've asked her who that was if a leisured voice hadn't spoken up, "Ah. You must be the one Hokage-sama told me about. You would be Ichigo Kurosaki, correct?" Ichigo gazed at the newcomer. He looked young, definitely around his teenage-years and he probably came up to Ichigo's elbow at best. He wore a navy blue mask over the bottom-half of his face and his leaf headband was styled to cover his left eye.

What was he hiding under there?

He wore a black t shirt with golden strips over the sleeves and a golden V-shaped symbol around the neck area making his shirt look like a turtleneck one instead. Black baggy trousers, blue sandals, and a pouch on the back of his trousers completed his appearance. What really caught Ichigo's attention was the boy's hair. It was sliver, like Toshiro's, and slicked to the side. If anything he could've made an excellent scarecrow.

"Kakashi." Ichigo guessed before he found Naruto shoved into his arms as a bright smile was engraved onto Kushina's face as she spun around and embraced the boy now known as Kakashi in a show of motherly-love.

"Whatcha been up to, Scarecrow-chan? Why weren't you here earlier?" Kushina questioned, ruffling Kakashi's hair, making him chuckle sheepishly. Back in the day, Minato's old student would always scowl whenever Kushina handed out her motherly love to him and his teammates, but a certain event showed Kakashi that he needed to take things easy and chill out a bit to which he did.

"Well you see kaa-sama this old lady needed some help with her shopping bags, and me being the helping shinobi I am decided to lend a hand to her, not realizing at the time that she lived on a huge mountain top," Kakashi closed his right eye and seemingly let a smile grace his masked features as his expression remained content.

Kushina let go of Kakashi to show the boy her twitching eyebrow as she pointed at Ichigo who held Naruto in his arms, "That's even cheesier than Ichigo-kun's excuse!" Kushina ranted.

Kakashi tapped his chin, "What was Ichigo's reason for turning up late?"

Kushina pouted and crossed her arms over her chest before turning away from the boys, "He got lost on the road to life!"

'Hmm. That's a good one. I might have to use that one myself.' Kakashi thought as he walked over to Ichigo and attempted to pat him on his shoulder. He had to jump to do so, "Ichigo I think you and I are going to get along just fine." Ichigo nodded while Kushina growled cutely at the lazy lads.

"Ah. Goo, goo, gaa, gaa," Naruto chortled and Kakashi eye-smiled at him.

"Hey there little guy, how's it going?" Kakashi asked, giving Naruto his index finger as if offering to shake the little infant's hand with it. Naruto took it and shook it while laughing adorably as Kakashi thought how much he looked like his father Minato Namikaze.

Kushina placed her hands on Kakashi's shoulders and decided to properly introduce the two, "Ichigo-kun, this is Minato-san's former student Kakashi Hatake. He's the elite shinobi I was telling you about earlier, he's really good. Not only did he graduate the ninja academy at age five he also was promoted to the rank of chunin at age six before advancing to the rank of Jonin at age twelve! He's even gone as far as to create his own S-rank technique known as the Raikiri!" Kushina bragged about her surrogate son's achievements.

She was so proud of him.

"Oh I'm not that good." Kakashi brushed off Kushina's praise lackadaisically, making Kushina roll her eyes as a small smile spread itself across her features.

"You're just being modest as all." Kushina teased. "It beats how you were before the Third Great Shinobi War Scarecrow-chan. If haughtiness was a power, then yours could've destroyed the village a thousand times over." Kushina joked and Kakashi chuckled a little bit at the crude description of his younger-self. He really thought he was hot-stuff back then. It took the death of his dear friend after he basically drilled words into his stubborn head to realize he wasn't.

"Anyway," Jokes aside, Kakashi was all about business despite his languid demeanour, "I have to escort you to Kaminari no Kuni in order for you to track down an A-classed nuke-nin. Think of it as reassurance so Hokage-sama can rest himself knowing a strong samurai such as yourself won't suddenly remember who you are and run off to your boss to inform him of what you went through during your stay here in Konoha." Kakashi confessed with an eye-smile.

It was better to be straight up with him.

Ichigo grunted. "The old man must've briefed you about me. Am I right?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that Ichigo-san. It's strictly shinobi confidentiality," Kakashi joked and Kushina giggled before she remembered something.

"Oh yeah!" Kushina grabbed the A-classed nuke-nin's file off of the bench and gave it to Kakashi to look over, "That's who Ichigo needs to find. Can you help him hunt him down Scarecrow-chan?"

Kakashi breezed through the file in no real hurry, which was strange since he read it quickly, "Hmm. Target is Manabu Yamada whom is wanted dead or alive. Yup, I can assist Ichigo-san in finding him, but he'll have to do the work in bringing him down himself." Kushina didn't miss the glint in Kakashi's right eye and narrowed her own eyes at him, "You can do that can't you Ichigo-san?"

Ichigo wasn't even going to dignify that with a response as he handed Naruto back to Kushina. Naruto wailed and tried to jump back into Ichigo's arms, making Kushina coo, "Awww, Naruto-chan wants to go with you two." The red haired woman started soothing her son, "When you're a little older Naruto-chan. You can go on all the simple missions you want to."

Kakashi felt a bead of sweat roll off of the back of his head at that. Overprotective mother mode was kicking in there. "Okay, Ichigo, shall we be off?" A nod of the head was all Kakashi needed as he inexplicably sighed in relief, 'Good. A few days away from Gai and his 'youthfulness' will do me the world of good. I can catch up on my icha icha paradise.'

Jiraiya-sama was an amazing author, truly inspirational!

Kushina could see Kakashi's hand reaching into his pouch as his hand involuntarily lifted the cover up to reveal something orange in his pouch that made Kushina grit her teeth and growl softly.

As Kakashi and Ichigo took their first steps toward the entrance of Konoha, Kakashi was stopped by a smooth hand that felt like a tiger claw had grabbed his shoulder. He slowly turned his head over his shoulder and paled at the glaring Kushina whom eyes had shifted to yellow while her hair started waving upward to resemble that of nine fox-like tails.

"Kakashi…" Kushina growled out menacingly, making Kakashi gulp, "What did I tell you about reading those dirty books?!"

Kakashi waved his hands around in a placating manner, "Maa. It's nothing really, kaa-sama. It's just something that helps me sleep at night." That was obviously the wrong answer as Kushina's furious expression increased and a powerful swirling blue aura shrouded her body, earning a whine from Kakashi while the other bypassing shinobi cowered in fear at the Akai-Chishio-no-Habanero's temper.

Ichigo felt like rubbing his temples in exasperation. But he resisted easily enough. Women and their temper tantrums, he had come to know them all too well. Two of his best girl-chums (Tatsuki and Rukia) both had tempers and they were just annoying as all hell when they were angry.

"What kind of example are you setting to Naruto-chan reading filthy books lik-." The demonic-looking Kushina's rant was cut off as Ichigo stood in front of Kakashi and wrapped his arms around Kushina's head, making sure to keep a few inches away from her as to not suffocate Naruto who was in between them, "I-Ichigo-kun!" Kushina stuttered but felt oddly relaxed as Ichigo massaged her hair and whispered soothing noises to her.

He soothed his baby sisters Karin and Yuzu before he came to this world so whose was to say he couldn't calm Kushina down.

"Easy, Kushina, Kakashi's considered a full grown man more or less since he's allowed to go off and fight in a war. You just have to accept the choices he makes in his life."

Kushina tried to protest, but the soft feel of Ichigo's huge hands running up and down hair beautiful hair was simply too much to resist. She could smell her own soap mixed in with Ichigo's scent and it was almost enough to make her moan as her temper died down and appearance went back to normal.

'Damn it! Why can't I ever get mad at him and beat him! It's not fair! Why does Ichigo-kun have to be so calm for?' Kushina questioned herself mentally as she was close to nuzzling into Ichigo's chest but realized Naruto was in her arms and pulled back a bit embarrassed while everyone around them simply stared on in awe at the magician that was Ichigo Kurosaki.

He just soothed the Akai-Chishio-no-Habanero down with ease!

If that wasn't magical then they didn't know what was!

Ichigo was badass if one asked Kushina!

"Fine!" Kushina pouted as she pivoted on her heels, "You can have your stupid books then Scarecrow-chan!"

Kakashi held his hands together as if he were about to do a pray, "If there's a god, you must be it Ichigo." That was Kakashi's way of saying thank you very much.

Kushina sulked sweetly while Ichigo merely nodded his head and patted Kushina's shoulder, "I'll be back soon." Kushina nodded as she watched the boys saunter on out of the leaf to begin their voyage to Kaminari no Kuni.

With nothing better to do, Kushina started walking back home with Naruto in her arms.

The red haired woman traversed through the market district of Konoha before walking through an alleyway, all the while thinking how boring it would be without her roommate to attempt to miff in some way, shape, or form with her silly jokes.

"I guess it's just me and you again Naruto-chan." Kushina stated aloud as she brought Naruto to her shoulder and rubbed his little back. "Are you going to miss Ichigo-kun too?" Naruto just looked around the isolated area they were in curiosity, "I am missing him already. I can't make him my ramen now!" Kushina cried comically.

Tripe aside: Kushina became intrigued when she picked up on the subtle noises of someone breathing rather hard. "What's that? It sounds like someone's running a marathon." Kushina's eyes lit up in excitement as she only knew one person that would be wheezing intensely after jogging around the village a hundred times over, "Ohhhh! Maybe it's Gai!" Kushina followed the sound and grew more curious as it got rather loud fairly quickly.

"Hmm. Gai's usually faster than this. His speed's already way above mine and Mikoto's due to his crazy training regime." Kushina shivered. Maito Gai really went all-out when it came to training. He pushed his body to its limits and beyond. How was he still among the living let alone still a shinobi with him doing dangerous bones-crumping-training day by day Kushina would never know.

Kushina turned the corner with a bright grin on her beautiful face only to wish she hadn't as her smile was replaced with a look of fear followed by an immediate gasp.

This feeling of desire to kill and destroy everyone and everything in his line of vision was felt by Kushina as the red haired beauty started hyperventilating at the sight of the sickly purple aura covering the devilish man as he looked like a fat man who had eaten too much in an all-you-can-restaurant as he couldn't control his own breathing!

Kushina knew why this man before her was legendary; he struck fear in her heart as she fell on her backside and involuntarily clattered her teeth together, and held her son closer to her, praying that he wouldn't cry so the golden-eyed-killing-intent-releasing-man before her wouldn't see her.

'I'm scared.' Kushina thought as she hugged Naruto close to her, 'Is… is this the power of a sannin?'

"I've… got to control myself." Orochimaru said, his bloodlust flaring like crazy while his long tongue slithered out of his mouth and wetted his dry lips, "I've only just come back from my killing spree." Kushina gulped at that. Did he mean humans or animals. Judging by this malevolence Kushina wouldn't put it past him to murder humans, as much as that terrified her.

Things were already looking bad for Kushina and unfortunately for the red haired beauty the sense of danger was amped up by ten as Naruto chose the worst possible time to start bawling his eyes out to signal that he needed something or he himself (unlikely) felt Orochimaru's malice on his shoulders as if it were reiatsu.

"Oh no, not now, Naruto-chan! Please! Please! Please don't cry!" Kushina begged him, trying desperately to hush baby Naruto. She could only freeze as Orochimaru's ears wriggled as if he had just received a tingling sensation on them before he brought his tongue slightly out of his mouth to lick the top part of his lips.

Orochimaru sharply looked at her, earning frightened swallows from the woman.

Kushina's heart was in her mouth as Orochimaru started stalking his prey, her; all the while the devilish snake was giggling insanely, and grinding his 'artificial' hands (since snakes don't have hands) together. This scenario was like a woman or a man on the verge of being devoured by a monstrous demon!

Once Orochimaru made his way to the scared Uzumaki his lunatic-demeanour faded away, and was replaced by a cool and collected one that sent chills up Kushina's spine how quickly the snake-man could switch his psycho side on and off like flipping on a light within an apartment.

"Kushina-dear, you don't look so well. Perhaps I could offer my assistance to you."

Why did she feel like she wasn't getting the choice to choose any other option other then yes?


	31. The Stoic Ichigo 7

**Chapter Seven**

**Follow the Yellow Brick Road**

XxX

(With Mikoto)

"Ooooh! That Fugaku! Does the clan really mean more to him then his own family?" Mikoto thunderously stormed into her house, making sure to keep her voice down so Sasuke didn't start crying again.

The black haired woman stomped off upstairs to grab Sasuke's diaper bag and her own handbag for her day-out at the red-haired beauty's home with her son while muttering to herself, "I know he's been feeling upset with the way the villagers look at us, but that's no excuse for cutting off ties with the nice ones like Kushina-chan. He might even be good friends with Ichigo if he drops his ego."

Mikoto shook her head at this. She loved her husband. She really did. It was just that his arrogance had to be toned down, if only slightly. So what if they were in the back section of Konoha. It didn't make a difference to Mikoto, because at the end of the day, they were still the Police Force! What other clans could wholeheartedly, from the bottom of their hearts, say they had a position of such significance.

Not many.

Sure the Uchiha-clan were viewed upon with scorn in the eyes of many, and blamed for what happened a year ago when the Kyuubi no Yoko infiltrated Konoha, but Mikoto believed if they just kept at it, putting their all for the sake of Konoha, then the villagers would soon see sense and realize that them as a whole didn't have anything to do with the invasion of the Kyuubi.

Mikoto could understand to a certain extent why the majority of Konoha's populace would accuse the Uchiha-clan in playing a part in the attack of the Kyuubi no Yoko since all Uchiha-clan members were well-known to stick together after the pinnacle of Uchiha, Madara Uchiha, abandoned his own tribe and village in favour of his own ambition.

In fact the only other Uchiha besides the heavenly one that wasn't stereotyped with the rest of them was already dead. Just thinking about the poor uncharacteristic Uchiha whom lost his life in the Third Great Shinobi War put a saddened expression on Mikoto's face as she made it to Sasuke's room and started gathering his things for their trip to Kushina's home after putting Sasuke down on his crib.

"I expected Obito to be around a lot longer than he did." Mikoto confessed to herself. The boy worked hard to get to where he was as well. Many of the Uchiha-clan members were in all actuality average/mediocre ninjas in despite of the fact that many of them believed that they were all as talented as Itachi and/or Shisui (or close enough.)

Obito was even worse than mediocre.

He graduated rock-bottom of his class in the academy, something that no Uchiha had ever been poor enough to accomplish, but Obito made it possible.

It was why the clan ostracized the outgoing boy, because they believed he brought shame upon them add to the fact that he was nothing like them.

In despite of this fact they still desired vengeance on Obito's teammate for what he held in his left eye-socket. To them, he stole it off of Obito, and was highly unfit to wield the Uchiha-clan's Kekkai Genkai.

Shaking her head at the bitter memories of the past, Mikoto continued to put extra diapers, a bottle and baby formula in case Sasuke got hungry, and his favourite blue blanket for when he got too tired and wanted to sleep into his travel-pack while trying to think positive.

"What done is done. There's no need to hold a grudge against Kakashi for something that wasn't his fault." Mikoto smiled at her son and tickled his tummy, making him laugh adorably, "I hope you don't turn out like the rest of them Sasuke-chan. Keep your childish tendencies for as long as possible, okay, sweetie?"

Sasuke just clapped his hands together and Mikoto took that as verification.

"Close enough."

xXx

(With Itachi)

It was the normal routine for the wonder child of the Uchiha-clan. He sauntered through the compound in the usual typical weather, never cloudy, but never too bright either. The girls would stop what they were doing and gawk at him with hearts in their eyes as if they were being graced to watch a god walk among them. The elderly folks would walk over to him and ruffle his hair, telling him how proud they were of him for displaying the Uchiha-clan in a positive light for being so talented.

He would greet his aunt who was normally outside sweeping her store before continuing on his way to his friend's house so the two gifted children of the tribe of matrix-wielding-eyes-users could venture to the academy together.

Ah… it was business as usual for Itachi Uchiha.

He went through all of that and now he found himself outside of his friend's house with his backpack over his left shoulder. He lifted his hand up, and knocked once on the door in a composed manner before banging the door again since no one was answering the door.

Eventually Itachi could see the golden doorknob rattling slightly as if a baby had gotten his hands on it and had shaken it rapidly before it turned and emitted a clicking sound. The door swung open to reveal an old man with unkempt grey hair falling over his own unique blue headband that had the symbol for the Uchiha-clan printed on it.

He had light wrinkly skin and the distinctive onyx eyes that most Uchiha had. His attire consisted of a dark red kimono top with the white and red fan of the Uchiha-clan on the back of it along with a pair of dark red kimono pants held up by a black obi tied around his waist and a brown walking stick in his hand.

"Ah. Kagami-sama, it's good to you. Is Shisui ready to head to the academy?" Itachi asked respectfully to the old man now identified as Kagami Uchiha.

Kagami Uchiha was one of the oldest Uchiha within the clan. He had been partnered up with the Shinobi no Yami, Danzo Shimura, himself and fought alongside him and the Nidaime Hokage in the Second Great Shinobi War. He poured his heart and soul in very battle he fought for his tribe but was also loyal to Tobirama and knew it was him whom put his clan in the back part of the village but stood by him wholeheartedly.

Now he just wished his fellow clansmen would do the same.

Kagami smiled at the boy, "It's good to see you sunny. Shisui should be down in a minute." Itachi nodded his head at that. Kagami liked the boy, and would often praise his maturity, especially after what Itachi witnessed during the Third Great Shinobi War only a couple of years ago. No kid so young should've to witness the horror Itachi saw through his young eyes that day.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

He could remember hearing Itachi's horrified scream seeing all those corpses littering the ground like toys thrown to the ground by a disorganized and untidy child. Usually traumatizing moments would effectively turn someone into a psycho serial killer willing to slaughter anyone deemed a bad person.

But instead Itachi did the opposite. He closed himself off from the world and locked his emotions away so he wouldn't have to deal with them, and that was why Kagami praised the boy's maturity for not succumbing to the clan's cursed hatred.

"Hey, dad, is that Itachi?" A young boy's voice was heard from behind the old man before a short boy roughly around Itachi's size walked into view with his short wild black spiky hair and light skin in full display.

He wore a purple long sleeved turtleneck shirt over a short-sleeved black t shirt, three-quarters black jeans, and black sandals on his feet.

The boy's eyes lit up once he seen his best friend Itachi Uchiha, "Hey, Itachi. Sup man? I'm all ready to go when you are pal."

"That's good to know, Shisui." Itachi smiled at his chum.

Shisui grinned and walked past his father before the old man's voice rang out in his ears, "Aren't you forgetting something son?" Shisui turned his head to look at his father and blinked twice at him. The old man chuckled earnestly, and reached his hand at the side to pull off a two-strap backpack off of the coat hanger, and dangled it in front of his son.

Shisui rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry, dad, I forgot about that."

His dad threw him his backpack which he caught with his ease, "No worries, son. We all make mistakes as we are only human. It's how we take notice to these mistakes and rectify them that matter my boy." Shisui nodded but groaned nevertheless. His father always had to give him the speech every time he did something wrong.

Kagami chortled and looked at Itachi, "So how's that father and mother of yours doing sunny?"

"All is well Kagami-sama. Mother invited company around yesterday in the form of Kushina-san and her friend Ichigo-san whom recently arrived in the village I believe. Father does not seem to like Ichigo-san much. Oh, and mother says hello." Kagami hummed thoughtfully. That would mean this Ichigo-guy beat his father, the head of the Uchiha-clan no less.

The only people Fugaku ever disliked were those that had the Uchiha-clan's Kekkei Genkai but not Uchiha-blood in them and those that defeated him in battle. His sense of pride in his own abilities and duties to the clan were that great.

That was an impressive feat of that Ichigo-man. Perhaps he should see Fugaku later and get the details of that.

"Okay. Well you two better get going. You don't want to be late for the academy." Kagami recommended.

Shisui patted Itachi on the shoulder, "Hold on tight buddy, I'll zap us on outta here in a jiffy," Shisui grinned and Itachi just hummed in acceptance to his friend's words. Even for a small boy his age Shisui could already pull off one burst of the Shunshin no Jutsu (the Body Flicker Technique) a day, and could travel a considerable distance with that one burst of the well-known short speed jutsu.

He was going to go far, his father just knew it as he watched the boys disappear amidst a cloud of smoke with leaves surrounding it.

XxX

(Elsewhere)

XxX

"Oh wow, I can't wait to go to the academy, and see Naoko-chan! She may not like me but that won't stop me from trying to win her affections." An optimistic boy said holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand as he jogged off to the academy, "I'm uber determined for this to work."

It was all the boy had; his determination since he was orphaned at a very young age. The poor kid didn't even realize that made him a prime target for scientists to run experiments on him after kidnapping him since no one would miss the kid. He was under the radar. For all the instructors at the academy cared for, he could simply run away and never be thought of again.

The predator hiding in the shadows liked that a lot.

As soon as the boy walked past the alleyway, a pair of grey hands shot out of it and covered his mouth and nose. The boy hyperventilated with panic written all over his face as he tussled and turned in a bid to free himself, but his captor had a strong hold on him.

"Come now, child. You'll be fulfilling an even greater cause by being an lab-rat for my experiments," The boy froze at the sound of the smooth whisper.

'O-Orochimaru? One of the legendary sannin…? What does he want with me?' The terrified child thought before feeling his legs dragged across the dirt ground, 'N-No, p-please! P-please d-don't t-take m-me! I've g-got a d-date t-to tend to.' He promised himself that he would ask out Naoko one way or the other. It couldn't end like this for him.

But it seemingly did.

The no-named fodder boy felt a wood breaking blow delivered to the side of his neck. His world blacked out as the silent sound of his bouquet of flowers for his would-be girlfriend hitting the ground alerted him of his passing over to the unconscious side of the force (chakra).

"There we go. See how easy that is." Orochimaru smiled, throwing the sleeping boy in a trash-bag that he threw over his shoulder, "You should feel honoured. You're going to be of use for me child." Orochimaru sauntered off to his secret lair while licking his lips at the concept of inserting Hashirama's cells into the children he had captured earlier.

He would have enjoyed using stronger bodies for this procedure, but it was too risky. He could only get children and men that didn't have a family. Any known shinobi would alert the Hokage of something fishy with their disappearances. Hiruzen would classify them as nuke-nins (missing ninjas), and strengthen the security to avoid a repeat of a similar scenario happening. Orochimaru didn't need that.

But kids… Kids were free to do what they wanted. If one left the village it wasn't the Hokage's problem until a client requested of him to find said missing child. Orochimaru could easily slither around that problem by taking orphans such as this kid in the trash bag.

Such a shame though. Orochimaru would have to wait until he was ready to leave this village before getting his hands on the bodies of Kushina and Ichigo. Just the very idea of getting such interesting test subjects to experiment on was enough to get Orochimaru excited, but he refrained from doing so.

His bloodlust had been surging like mad lately, he needed to control it.

Even after coming back from his killing spree he still felt hungry for more blood.

He longed for it.

And he would have it.

But immortality came first.

xXx

(Southern Entrance of Konoha)

The red haired woman sat on the bench provided for tourists visiting the leaf waiting for her orange haired roommate whom assured her that he would meet her here in despite of the fact that he didn't know where it was, but then again he could always feel out for her reiatsu/chakra signature. At least that was what Ichigo had told the red haired beauty before he wondered off to find somewhere to meditate and to clear his thoughts.

Baby Naruto sat joyously on his mother's lap while Kushina dangled her legs off of the bench as if she were a little child on a grown up's chair, but her feet occasionally brushed the pavement, making her pout. Damn. Why did she have to grow up? Not mentally or in age. Grow up as in height. Couldn't Kami have stopped her growth before she got this tall? It just wasn't fair that she couldn't swing her legs off of the bench freely; it was something she adored doing since it was free, simple and most of all fun to do.

…Dattebane!

A sigh escaped Kushina's lips. That was just one of the many downfalls of being a grown-up, but there were a lot of positives of being an adult too. Like for instance if she so wanted to she could buy herself some alcohol. She wouldn't because she wasn't a drinker or a smoker, but if she was, no one would stop her from getting wasted and babbling nonsense that would drive someone totally insane.

"C'mon Ichigo-kun, don't keep a girl waiting." Kushina sighed, looking at the file containing the man whom Ichigo was tasked with the responsibility of apprehending or outright extinguishing from existence depending on the circumstances, "How long does it take for a big muscle-man to decide whether to capture or to kill someone already?" Kushina asked herself.

Not long after thinking that sentence over did Kushina frown. She couldn't truthfully say she had massacred anyone in her somewhat short career of a shinobi. Maybe it was because the Hokage was there for her, since she was a member of a prestigious clan with a strong Kekkai Genkai. He didn't want to rush her into anything and thus ruin her potential.

The Uzumakis' potential to become a fearsome clan could be divulged to the fact that they had long life-spans, most didn't start losing their good looks at age ninety at the minimum. That stretched out their peaks, allowing them to grow stronger even as generations past them by, add to the fact they were masters of sealing. Rumours had it that it was mentioned an Uzumaki with a wide range of fuinjutsu could trap a living shinobi within a scroll!

Now that was frightening.

It was no wonder why Konoha brought Kushina over to Konoha in order for her to be a powerful shinobi all in the name of the Will of Fire! It was why she was nurtured and had her innocence protected as Hiruzen felt that was the best course of action for the red haired woman of the Uzumaki-clan.

Maybe Kushina would still be in the shinobi forces if Minato hadn't did what he did.

Naruto needed a parent.

She couldn't afford to die no matter what…

Kushina jumped a bit as well as the other passing civilians and shinobi as a swish noise echoed throughout the area before the green-wearing-kimono samurai stood tall in his emotionless glory.

"Hey," Ichigo said.

"Ichigo-kun!" Kushina said brightly, jumping up with Naruto in her arms, the baby giggling at the sudden jump that felt like a fun ride to him. With her arms wrapped around her son, the red haired woman pouted at the orange haired samurai, "What took you so long anyway?"

"I got lost on the road to life." Ichigo excused and Kushina's pout increased.

"That's almost as cheesy as the excuses Scarecrow-chan makes up." Kushina hollered and Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Who was that guy?

Ichigo would've asked her who that was if a leisured voice hadn't spoken up, "Ah. You must be the one Hokage-sama told me about. You would be Ichigo Kurosaki, correct?" Ichigo gazed at the newcomer. He looked young, definitely around his teenage-years and he probably came up to Ichigo's elbow at best. He wore a navy blue mask over the bottom-half of his face and his leaf headband was styled to cover his left eye.

What was he hiding under there?

He wore a black t shirt with golden strips over the sleeves and a golden V-shaped symbol around the neck area making his shirt look like a turtleneck one instead. Black baggy trousers, blue sandals, and a pouch on the back of his trousers completed his appearance. What really caught Ichigo's attention was the boy's hair. It was sliver, like Toshiro's, and slicked to the side. If anything he could've made an excellent scarecrow.

"Kakashi." Ichigo guessed before he found Naruto shoved into his arms as a bright smile was engraved onto Kushina's face as she spun around and embraced the boy now known as Kakashi in a show of motherly-love.

"Whatcha been up to, Scarecrow-chan? Why weren't you here earlier?" Kushina questioned, ruffling Kakashi's hair, making him chuckle sheepishly. Back in the day, Minato's old student would always scowl whenever Kushina handed out her motherly love to him and his teammates, but a certain event showed Kakashi that he needed to take things easy and chill out a bit to which he did.

"Well you see kaa-sama this old lady needed some help with her shopping bags, and me being the helping shinobi I am decided to lend a hand to her, not realizing at the time that she lived on a huge mountain top," Kakashi closed his right eye and seemingly let a smile grace his masked features as his expression remained content.

Kushina let go of Kakashi to show the boy her twitching eyebrow as she pointed at Ichigo who held Naruto in his arms, "That's even cheesier than Ichigo-kun's excuse!" Kushina ranted.

Kakashi tapped his chin, "What was Ichigo's reason for turning up late?"

Kushina pouted and crossed her arms over her chest before turning away from the boys, "He got lost on the road to life!"

'Hmm. That's a good one. I might have to use that one myself.' Kakashi thought as he walked over to Ichigo and attempted to pat him on his shoulder. He had to jump to do so, "Ichigo I think you and I are going to get along just fine." Ichigo nodded while Kushina growled cutely at the lazy lads.

"Ah. Goo, goo, gaa, gaa," Naruto chortled and Kakashi eye-smiled at him.

"Hey there little guy, how's it going?" Kakashi asked, giving Naruto his index finger as if offering to shake the little infant's hand with it. Naruto took it and shook it while laughing adorably as Kakashi thought how much he looked like his father Minato Namikaze.

Kushina placed her hands on Kakashi's shoulders and decided to properly introduce the two, "Ichigo-kun, this is Minato-san's former student Kakashi Hatake. He's the elite shinobi I was telling you about earlier, he's really good. Not only did he graduate the ninja academy at age five he also was promoted to the rank of chunin at age six before advancing to the rank of Jonin at age twelve! He's even gone as far as to create his own S-rank technique known as the Raikiri!" Kushina bragged about her surrogate son's achievements.

She was so proud of him.

"Oh I'm not that good." Kakashi brushed off Kushina's praise lackadaisically, making Kushina roll her eyes as a small smile spread itself across her features.

"You're just being modest as all." Kushina teased. "It beats how you were before the Third Great Shinobi War Scarecrow-chan. If haughtiness was a power, then yours could've destroyed the village a thousand times over." Kushina joked and Kakashi chuckled a little bit at the crude description of his younger-self. He really thought he was hot-stuff back then. It took the death of his dear friend after he basically drilled words into his stubborn head to realize he wasn't.

"Anyway," Jokes aside, Kakashi was all about business despite his languid demeanour, "I have to escort you to Kaminari no Kuni in order for you to track down an A-classed nuke-nin. Think of it as reassurance so Hokage-sama can rest himself knowing a strong samurai such as yourself won't suddenly remember who you are and run off to your boss to inform him of what you went through during your stay here in Konoha." Kakashi confessed with an eye-smile.

It was better to be straight up with him.

Ichigo grunted. "The old man must've briefed you about me. Am I right?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that Ichigo-san. It's strictly shinobi confidentiality," Kakashi joked and Kushina giggled before she remembered something.

"Oh yeah!" Kushina grabbed the A-classed nuke-nin's file off of the bench and gave it to Kakashi to look over, "That's who Ichigo needs to find. Can you help him hunt him down Scarecrow-chan?"

Kakashi breezed through the file in no real hurry, which was strange since he read it quickly, "Hmm. Target is Manabu Yamada whom is wanted dead or alive. Yup, I can assist Ichigo-san in finding him, but he'll have to do the work in bringing him down himself." Kushina didn't miss the glint in Kakashi's right eye and narrowed her own eyes at him, "You can do that can't you Ichigo-san?"

Ichigo wasn't even going to dignify that with a response as he handed Naruto back to Kushina. Naruto wailed and tried to jump back into Ichigo's arms, making Kushina coo, "Awww, Naruto-chan wants to go with you two." The red haired woman started soothing her son, "When you're a little older Naruto-chan. You can go on all the simple missions you want to."

Kakashi felt a bead of sweat roll off of the back of his head at that. Overprotective mother mode was kicking in there. "Okay, Ichigo, shall we be off?" A nod of the head was all Kakashi needed as he inexplicably sighed in relief, 'Good. A few days away from Gai and his 'youthfulness' will do me the world of good. I can catch up on my icha icha paradise.'

Jiraiya-sama was an amazing author, truly inspirational!

Kushina could see Kakashi's hand reaching into his pouch as his hand involuntarily lifted the cover up to reveal something orange in his pouch that made Kushina grit her teeth and growl softly.

As Kakashi and Ichigo took their first steps toward the entrance of Konoha, Kakashi was stopped by a smooth hand that felt like a tiger claw had grabbed his shoulder. He slowly turned his head over his shoulder and paled at the glaring Kushina whom eyes had shifted to yellow while her hair started waving upward to resemble that of nine fox-like tails.

"Kakashi…" Kushina growled out menacingly, making Kakashi gulp, "What did I tell you about reading those dirty books?!"

Kakashi waved his hands around in a placating manner, "Maa. It's nothing really, kaa-sama. It's just something that helps me sleep at night." That was obviously the wrong answer as Kushina's furious expression increased and a powerful swirling blue aura shrouded her body, earning a whine from Kakashi while the other bypassing shinobi cowered in fear at the Akai-Chishio-no-Habanero's temper.

Ichigo felt like rubbing his temples in exasperation. But he resisted easily enough. Women and their temper tantrums, he had come to know them all too well. Two of his best girl-chums (Tatsuki and Rukia) both had tempers and they were just annoying as all hell when they were angry.

"What kind of example are you setting to Naruto-chan reading filthy books lik-." The demonic-looking Kushina's rant was cut off as Ichigo stood in front of Kakashi and wrapped his arms around Kushina's head, making sure to keep a few inches away from her as to not suffocate Naruto who was in between them, "I-Ichigo-kun!" Kushina stuttered but felt oddly relaxed as Ichigo massaged her hair and whispered soothing noises to her.

He soothed his baby sisters Karin and Yuzu before he came to this world so whose was to say he couldn't calm Kushina down.

"Easy, Kushina, Kakashi's considered a full grown man more or less since he's allowed to go off and fight in a war. You just have to accept the choices he makes in his life."

Kushina tried to protest, but the soft feel of Ichigo's huge hands running up and down hair beautiful hair was simply too much to resist. She could smell her own soap mixed in with Ichigo's scent and it was almost enough to make her moan as her temper died down and appearance went back to normal.

'Damn it! Why can't I ever get mad at him and beat him! It's not fair! Why does Ichigo-kun have to be so calm for?' Kushina questioned herself mentally as she was close to nuzzling into Ichigo's chest but realized Naruto was in her arms and pulled back a bit embarrassed while everyone around them simply stared on in awe at the magician that was Ichigo Kurosaki.

He just soothed the Akai-Chishio-no-Habanero down with ease!

If that wasn't magical then they didn't know what was!

Ichigo was badass if one asked Kushina!

"Fine!" Kushina pouted as she pivoted on her heels, "You can have your stupid books then Scarecrow-chan!"

Kakashi held his hands together as if he were about to do a pray, "If there's a god, you must be it Ichigo." That was Kakashi's way of saying thank you very much.

Kushina sulked sweetly while Ichigo merely nodded his head and patted Kushina's shoulder, "I'll be back soon." Kushina nodded as she watched the boys saunter on out of the leaf to begin their voyage to Kaminari no Kuni.

With nothing better to do, Kushina started walking back home with Naruto in her arms.

The red haired woman traversed through the market district of Konoha before walking through an alleyway, all the while thinking how boring it would be without her roommate to attempt to miff in some way, shape, or form with her silly jokes.

"I guess it's just me and you again Naruto-chan." Kushina stated aloud as she brought Naruto to her shoulder and rubbed his little back. "Are you going to miss Ichigo-kun too?" Naruto just looked around the isolated area they were in curiosity, "I am missing him already. I can't make him my ramen now!" Kushina cried comically.

Tripe aside: Kushina became intrigued when she picked up on the subtle noises of someone breathing rather hard. "What's that? It sounds like someone's running a marathon." Kushina's eyes lit up in excitement as she only knew one person that would be wheezing intensely after jogging around the village a hundred times over, "Ohhhh! Maybe it's Gai!" Kushina followed the sound and grew more curious as it got rather loud fairly quickly.

"Hmm. Gai's usually faster than this. His speed's already way above mine and Mikoto's due to his crazy training regime." Kushina shivered. Maito Gai really went all-out when it came to training. He pushed his body to its limits and beyond. How was he still among the living let alone still a shinobi with him doing dangerous bones-crumping-training day by day Kushina would never know.

Kushina turned the corner with a bright grin on her beautiful face only to wish she hadn't as her smile was replaced with a look of fear followed by an immediate gasp.

This feeling of desire to kill and destroy everyone and everything in his line of vision was felt by Kushina as the red haired beauty started hyperventilating at the sight of the sickly purple aura covering the devilish man as he looked like a fat man who had eaten too much in an all-you-can-restaurant as he couldn't control his own breathing!

Kushina knew why this man before her was legendary; he struck fear in her heart as she fell on her backside and involuntarily clattered her teeth together, and held her son closer to her, praying that he wouldn't cry so the golden-eyed-killing-intent-releasing-man before her wouldn't see her.

'I'm scared.' Kushina thought as she hugged Naruto close to her, 'Is… is this the power of a sannin?'

"I've… got to control myself." Orochimaru said, his bloodlust flaring like crazy while his long tongue slithered out of his mouth and wetted his dry lips, "I've only just come back from my killing spree." Kushina gulped at that. Did he mean humans or animals. Judging by this malevolence Kushina wouldn't put it past him to murder humans, as much as that terrified her.

Things were already looking bad for Kushina and unfortunately for the red haired beauty the sense of danger was amped up by ten as Naruto chose the worst possible time to start bawling his eyes out to signal that he needed something or he himself (unlikely) felt Orochimaru's malice on his shoulders as if it were reiatsu.

"Oh no, not now, Naruto-chan! Please! Please! Please don't cry!" Kushina begged him, trying desperately to hush baby Naruto. She could only freeze as Orochimaru's ears wriggled as if he had just received a tingling sensation on them before he brought his tongue slightly out of his mouth to lick the top part of his lips.

Orochimaru sharply looked at her, earning frightened swallows from the woman.

Kushina's heart was in her mouth as Orochimaru started stalking his prey, her; all the while the devilish snake was giggling insanely, and grinding his 'artificial' hands (since snakes don't have hands) together. This scenario was like a woman or a man on the verge of being devoured by a monstrous demon!

Once Orochimaru made his way to the scared Uzumaki his lunatic-demeanour faded away, and was replaced by a cool and collected one that sent chills up Kushina's spine how quickly the snake-man could switch his psycho side on and off like flipping on a light within an apartment.

"Kushina-dear, you don't look so well. Perhaps I could offer my assistance to you."

Why did she feel like she wasn't getting the choice to choose any other option other then yes?


	32. The Stoic Ichigo 8

**Chapter 8**

**You Are Already Dead**

Ah. Nice relaxing walk was just what the doctor ordered for one Kakashi Hatake as he and the stoic one sauntered on the dirt path-way, a few minutes away from Konoha. In his younger days, Kakashi would've been all serious, and demanded that Ichigo step up the pace so they could get to their prior destination as soon as possible.

But after watching his love ones perish one by one, the slicked-haired teenager came to the conclusion that having a no-nonsense attitude wouldn't keep him around for any longer than his number was due by the big guy up in the sky who called the numbers of the only woman he had ever loved and the closest thing he'd had to a brother.

Everyone had to die at some time in their lives, right?

So why not live a little? Enjoy life while you could.

One may as well take the time to stop, and smell the roses so to speak. And that was exactly what he was doing now, taking out his Icha-Icha paradise book from his pouch, (he was in Ichigo's debt for getting kaa-sama off of his back there), and contently reading it while leisurely leading Ichigo to the docks so they could set sail to Kaminari no Kuni.

Life was good.

Meanwhile Ichigo was having a difficult time trying not to be too curious of this new environment he found himself in. Fresh grass, tall trees, dirt roads, no pavements, bushes, and no cars in a hundred mile radius. Was this what all of the ninja-world was like? No moving vehicles or any kind of electronic devices barring a few?

Ichigo didn't even assume that this world had speed boats. He was sure this world's boats were the old-fashioned manual powered boats operated by man instead of machine.

He could get use to that since there was no need for him to use a car or a boat. With the ability to walk on the very air itself, and flash from point B to point A within an instant Ichigo could get anywhere he wanted to if he knew where he was going of course.

It was just weird for him to know that he would never again see the things he had become accustomed to seeing on his daily walks to school and whatnot. Devices such as cars were but a mere thing of the past to the pinnacle of all hybrids of shinigami and human.

He would get used to this soon though.

He had too.

Kakashi closed his book momentarily, "Alright then." The masked boy breathed out in a relaxed manner, really enjoying the leisured sensation of silence, "I should probably warn you that we may encounter a little trouble along the way, I hope you're prepared to face that Ichigo-san."

Ichigo rotated his head in his direction to look at him once before turning his head back in front of him. He gave the star-ninja one nod of his head in affirmation.

"Good." Kakashi said, thankful that Ichigo wasn't the talkative type, "The most likely trouble we'll face on our voyage to Kaminari no Kuni will come in the form of Iwagakure no Sato ninja and some bandits who think it's a good idea to try their luck on experienced warriors such as ourselves."

"Why's that?" Ichigo questioned.

"You mean why the bandits want to kill us and take our money, or why Iwagakure would send their troops to get their justice and give punishment to the Leaf Village?" Kakashi asked, feigning surprise on his face and Ichigo simply deadpanned a look at him that made Kakashi chuckle a little uneasily. Sometimes it was the small things one just had to enjoy.

"Okay," Kakashi began, "Did kaa-sama tell you how Minato-sama defeated several of Iwagakure no Sato's shinobi using the Hiraishin no Jutsu?"

"She only informed me that he played an important role in Konoha's victory," Ichigo told him, "Now I know."

Kakashi nodded his head languidly, "That's why Iwa ninja will more than likely be targeting us on this voyage." Kakashi then shook his head, "The goal of revenge can lead many ninjas astray," Kakashi concluded in a grim tone of voice.

The half-breed grunted in agreement with the silver-haired Jonin-boy, while still continuing to walk towards the ocean to jump on boat and travel to Kaminari no Kuni. That was obvious, since the shinigami/hollow hybrid didn't exactly expect them to be hopping into a rocket. So by voyage Kakashi had to have meant boat travel.

As the two trotted on, the minutes away from Konoha soon became hours, and the further the distance they travelled from Konohagakure no Sato, the more reiatsu/chakra signatures did Ichigo pick up around the immediate area. He casted a look at Kakashi from the corner of his eye to see that the Cyclops' eye hadn't left the mature contents of his little orange book while he hummed a tune as if he hadn't had a care in the world.

But his droning seemed rather loud and forceful.

Was he trying to signal Ichigo, or something?

Ugh.

They would have to work on that when they were out of sight from their guests.

xXx

"You think they see us?" A gruffly quietened voice was heard from the direction of the bushes as ten pair of eyes was seen in the shadows that were surrounded by trees.

"Please… as if Leaf ninja could pinpoint our location." Another voice spoke up, sounding feminine. "We've been perfecting our stealth to near perfection since the Third Great Shinobi War when that scumbag of a man defeated our troops… despite how handsome he was."

"I hear that guy had a nice wife." A voice squeaked, "I think it was an Uzumaki… so the rumours hear anyway. What I wouldn't give to have an Uzumaki-lady, you know what I'm saying?"

"Hmm. I believe lord Onoki-sama would recommend us to steal the Uzumaki from Konoha and bring her to him." Another voice said. This one was calm and deep, and had an feel of intelligence in it. The Uzumakis had the potential to rise to prominence especially with their long life forces, giving their village the name Chōju no Sato (The Village of Longevity). Naturally, members of said clan would peak so much later in life than the average shinobi, thus their chakra levels and knowledge of all things ninja-related could've grown at a resounding rate, making them one of the, (if not thee), most powerful clans to ever exist in the ninja-world.

It was of no wonder why other hidden villages teamed up, and launched a full-on onslaught on Uzu no Kuni (The Land of Eddies), and all it's villages in its entirety to take it out and thus the ninjas avoided living in fear of the celestial beings sauntering around the Uzu no Kuni with their distinctive red hairs.

"We were one of the villages that basically gangbanged Uzushiogakure (The Hidden Eddy Village) during the Shinobi War Eras… the fools. Where's their 'good relationship' with Konoha now, eh?! I just wish every last freaking Uzumaki were killed that day!" This next person was brash and crude in a way, "Let's jump on down there and kill them all already!"

"Easy, easy, brother," A relaxed-voice sounded out in the clearing that still had a hint of malice in it. "We need to carefully run this through; you know what I'm saying? Come up with a plan to capture them, torture them until they tell us where we can find the Uzumaki directly in those walls of Konoha, capture the bitch, and bring her back to Iwagakure…"

"For even the strongest villages can get stronger." The calm voice spoke up, speaking directly to his easy-going comrade. "Good thinking Shu."

The laid-back yet somewhat devilish Shu merely hummed at his brother's compliment at him.

The rude boy of the ten growled in exasperation, "Fine! What'll be the plan to capture those bitches then?"

"Hey, guys, I got one. It's bound to succeed all day, every day of the week." The figure squeaked.

The rude boy groaned, "It better not be another one of your dumb candy-shop plans."

"Now, now, Sanjirou-kun, don't be so quick to shot down Benjirou-kun's idea. His plans have never failed us before. " The feminine voice identified the brash one as Sanjirou and the high-pitched one as Benjirou.

Sanjirou rolled his eyes, "Duh. What do you expect Kasuga-jiji? For us to just roll over, and fail ever single silent kill mission the old man back in the village gives us? Fuck no! We're the Kage no chinmoku no kyōdai (the silent brothers of the shadows), we're Iwagakure no Sato's best, when it comes to dealing with fools from the shadows!"

"Keep your arrogance down brother." A quiet voice which held wisdom in it spoke up, knowing that Han was Iwagakure's number one hitman. The man didn't do these simple stakeout missions that they were on. The S-class level ninja only found himself doing the most extreme and brutal missions that the village were tasked with by its clients.

"Fuck off, Atsushi!" Sanjirou raised his voice and almost alerted Kakashi and Ichigo who were still walking at a reserved pace with no real rush or urgency in their movements or body language.

"That's enough you two," The smart one of the group commanded calmly, the others appeared to listen to him since he was the oldest of the ten brothers hailing from Iwagakure no Sato, "Let's hear out Benjirou's plan and go from there brother." Sanjirou was sulking while Benjirou was beaming with delight. "Is that okay with the rest of you, Hachirou, Jiro, Ryo, Takashi?"

"Couldn't have spoken it any better myself, Kenji-niisama." Hachirou chirped to the eldest brother among the group, "Let's gets this show on the road then." The brothers all nodded their heads as the second oldest one in Takashi momentarily disbanded from the group to keep track of Ichigo and Kakashi while his brothers formatted a plan to capture the duo so they could kidnap the Uzumaki and thus enhance the power of their own village with the babies that were bound to come from the Uzumaki's womb.

Iwagakure no Sato's prominence would further increase no matter what.

xXx

(With Kakashi and Ichigo)

xXx

The leaves suddenly rustled with Kakashi's eye still glued to the naked pictures and lewd writing of Jiraiya-sama's masterpiece, Icha Icha paradise, before a voice with authority told him and Ichigo to hand over their valuables to him, "Give me your money, now!"

"Ah, a good old bandit," Kakashi identified the fodder as a bandit, turning a page of his book casually, "Do you want to deal with him or should I Ichigo-san?"

The man didn't take kindly to Kakashi's words at being treated as if he was some nuisance, "Don't get cocky with me boy, unless you want me to stab you!" He jerked his butter knife forward for emphasis.

"Ouch. That's a sharp kitchen knife you got there sir. I guess I should just do as you say and hand over all of my money to you." Kakashi mocked him patronizingly.

The lowlife criminal fumed at the masked prodigy, "I will kill you if you don't stop your cheekiness and give me YOUR DAMN MONEY!" He spat as he pointed his knife at the frozen faced orange haired warrior, "You too Ginger!" Seriously, what kind of person had ginger hair that bright? A freak – the bandit would tell anyone that much.

"Impossible." The carrot-top stoic man told the bandit man honestly, making him raise an eyebrow as a look of annoyance was washed over his face.

"Why not?"

"…Because you're already dead."

"…"

"…"

Even Kakashi stared at Ichigo with interest after he made that statement. The masked boy was sure the bandit was alive and very much (not) well at the moment. The bandit man would've back-chatted if he hadn't lost track of Ichigo, seeing only a mist of dust from where Ichigo once stood at. His eyes went wide as he saw a mazy blur dash past him. He never even got a look at the empyreal being before a line appeared down his body, cutting the fodder in two and effectively ending his life in a shower of blood.

"Wow." A shell-shocked Kakashi breathed out. He didn't even see Ichigo move much less take his huge broadsword off of his back and separate the man in two as if Ichigo was doing something as simple as cutting a cake into two pieces, "When you said he was already dead, you weren't joking."

Not even an ounce of blood was on Ichigo's clothes or on Ichigo's massive sword as the orange haired man shook his sword after blurring five feet away from the man so the blood wouldn't get on his clothes.

Ichigo gave the star ninja a nod of his head. He never joked around when it came to ending someone's life.

"He'd his chance." Ichigo confessed insensitively.

"Chance?" Kakashi repeated, not understanding what Ichigo had meant by that.

"Yes." Ichigo did not mince his words, "He blew his chance the moment he confronted us."

For a boy who had learned the meaning of 'us' as in teamwork from his dear deceased friend Obito, Kakashi's respect for Ichigo grew knowing the heavenly one wouldn't have abandoned him, "I see you don't abandon your comrades, Ichigo-san." Kakashi chirped with an eye-smile at Ichigo.

Ichigo started sauntering forward again with Kakashi following beside him. If one could get passed the deadly weapons on their bodies, one would think that the two were a father and a son taking a fatherly/son bonding trip outside of their village.

"I protect those associated with me to the very end of time." Ichigo murmured informatively to the masked-boy, earning an eye-smile from him.

"It's words like that which make me believe kaa-sama's safe in your capable hands." Kakashi confessed, "Please don't hurt her, I wouldn't know what I would do if you did. Just from the briefing Hokage-sama gave me of you and that little confrontation with that bandit guy, I know you're far stronger and faster than I am Ichigo-san."

Ichigo turned his eyes to the boy to see Kakashi giving him a look of pure resolution. It told Ichigo everything he needed to know. Kakashi would throw everything he had at him and then some if it meant he could protect the woman he had personally come to see as a respected mother.

And that had to be respected.

"Rest easy, little one. While I'm around, nothing will happen to Kushina or Naruto." Ichigo told the boy in a bid to ease his fears, making him visibly sigh in relief.

"I'm glad Ichigo-san." Kakashi eye-smiled at him, "I feel it's my duty somewhat to Minato-sama to assist his son on his path to becoming a ninja, if Naruto chooses to become one that is. However, I feel I may not be the right sensei to teach Naruto the things he'd need to become a respectable ninja of Konohagakure no Sato, because Minato-sama wasn't compatible with me. He did teach me a few things, but for the most part I taught myself the abilities and skills I possess of today."

Ichigo grunted in agreement with Kakashi. That made sense to him. Kisuke had barely taught him anything to do with using his Zanpakuto during the time when one of his dearest friends got recalled (kidnapped) back to the Soul Society to be given the execution penalty for surrendering her powers away to Ichigo so he could rescue his family.

No one ever said the Soul Society was fair now, especially with the mastermind Sosuke Aizen behind the scenes pulling the strings and whatnot.

But Ichigo will digress.

Kakashi took his eye off of his orange book and glanced around the forest nonchalantly, "So, it seems like our 'friends' have decided to stop following us," Kakashi murmured in case the ten shinobi from before happened to be near them in any way, shape, or form.

The stiff shake of the head from Ichigo told the star boy otherwise, "No. I sense them up ahead. Keep your guard up. Follow my lead." Ichigo whispered to Kakashi authoritatively, receiving a nod of submission from Kakashi. Ichigo was older than him and by the looks of it far more powerful than Kakashi.

It was only common sense that Kakashi would obey Ichigo's orders. Besides, he was only here as an observer, nothing more, nothing less.

After a few more minutes of walking, the two stumbled across a small tea house located on the side of the dirt road obviously meant for passing civilians and ninjas to stop and rest before continuing on their journey. This one was painted bright pink though and by the looks of it someone did a lazy job at painting the building.

Kakashi's eye narrowed at the house as his eye senses zoned in on the house and its paint job. He could see how sloppy done it was, as if a couple of children had gotten their hands, dipped them in pink hued paint, and smudged them all over the house without any thought or care put into making the building look neat and presentable for customers.

"Interesting." Kakashi said languidly, "Don't suppose you want to rest for a bit Ichigo-san."

Ichigo didn't get the time to form an answer to Kakashi before a beautiful woman of average height came bouncing out of the house with a cheerful smile on her face. Her coffee brown hair was curly, and fell to her shoulders, her bright blue eyes depicted her chirpiness to both Kakashi and Ichigo. Her clothes were quite revealing as she wore a bright pink leopard body suit with no sleeves, showing off her smooth arms and legs. A pair of pink sandals, arm warmers, and wristbands completed her appearance.

The breast development wasn't looking too bad either. In all actuality her boobs were sized FF-cup and her hips were perfectly curved to finish off her stunning elegance.

"Hello there!" The busty woman squealed at the two, "Come in! Come in! Won't you two fine gentlemen come in and rest your handsome selves!"

"Oh." Kakashi said, wanting to ogle the gorgeous woman in front of him. She was just like the ones Jiraiya-sama draw in his books. It was every man's dream to be with a lady of such elegance such as her, but the prevented laid back teenager inexplicably resisted, "You'd have to consult my colleague here for that madam."

Woman's eyes focused on the tall figure of Ichigo, mentally licking her lips at how handsome he was. Ichigo didn't look like Kakashi but the way the teenager made it sound, (to her at least), was that Ichigo was related to him in some way, "Oh. You're both on a fatherly/son bonding trip, how sweet." Perhaps Kakashi got his looks from his mother. That was what the woman concluded it as.

"You could say that." Kakashi replied with a sheepish eye-smile at the woman, causing her to giggle.

Ichigo merely regarded the jab with indifference and the woman stopped gigging as an awkward silence befallen the three of them. Well Ichigo seemed like the wet blanket if there ever was one.

"So…" The woman started, nervously swaying in position in a bid to break the silence between them, "Would you gentlemen like to come inside for tea. It's on special! Two for one!"

"How convenient," Ichigo commented, causing the woman to recoil as she started to sweat, "Affirmative. A rest for my son and I could do us some good I believe. My thirst could be quenched." Ichigo accepted the woman's offer, getting her to mentally sigh in relief before cheerfully pivoting on her heels to saunter on inside.

"C'mon then you two, we don't have all day!" She declared brightly, missing the smirk that crossed Kakashi's concealed features as he started following Ichigo and the woman inside of the tea house.

'Ichigo, you sly dog.' Kakashi mused to himself, stopping next to the house and running his finger down the building before taking his finger off of it and looking at it to see it was coloured pink. This confirmed Kakashi's fact that the tea house was only recently painted today, '…What happened here?'

XxX

The inside didn't exactly match the front. The walls were shaded in grey, and looked darker than the usual colour grey. Ichigo could see some parts of the wall that were lighter, usually the ones that were shaped in a square as if a picture frame had been on the wall for years and only taken off just this morning. Lastly, there were four tables shaped in a rectangle shape and tinted white with red edges. Each table had four red seats around it.

More girls greeted Ichigo and then Kakashi after the masked-boy had walked into the shop. Three of them had light brown long hairs and another two had long black hairs tied back in ponytails There were only two of the ten beautiful girls that weren't stereotyped with the rest of them. One of them was looking grumpy and wearing the same uniform as the first girl Ichigo and Kakashi had met outside. She had blue spiky hair to display her toughness.

The last girl did not have on the same uniform as the other eight girls and had green hair falling to her back and brown eyes. She wore a long red coat and no shirt or trousers, instead opting to wear a red bra, red toed high heels and red panties. She stood behind the counter looking professional despite her revealing attire.

All of the girls had a few things in common. Their elegance was amazingly high up, almost on a celestial level. Their hips were curvaceous, and their breasts were basically watermelons. It was almost suspiciously so, how their elegance was so… divine.

"Is tea alright for you two?" The same dark brown haired girl from outside asked the two.

"Sure." Ichigo murmured, not caring for the ladies' beauties as he strolled over to a table with Kakashi by his side. The girls were almost put off by Ichigo's attitude. Had he caught onto them? Impossible. But no guy could resist their stunning looks, so what was this man's game?

"Sister Ringo, fetch our two fine guests two cups of tea." The dark brown haired girl told the blue haired one who groused in return and stomped off to get the two warriors a couple of drinks.

"So," The busty dark brown haired girl started lustfully after Ichigo and Kakashi had taken their seats across from each other, Ichigo of course unsheathing Zangetsu off of his back and stabbing him into the ground resoundingly, causing the women to gulp, "Are you two on a business trip? Oh, and could I please have your names? Pretty please with a cherry on the top," She asked innocently, walking over to Ichigo with her hands on her hips, swaying her hips from side to side in a bid to get a reaction from the stone-faced samurai and his scarecrow 'son'.

They could see Kakashi stealing discreet glances at them. Whether that meant he was on to them or that he secretly found them attractive only the lord knew, but they took it as the latter since he had a porno in his hand which he was contently reading. Ichigo, however, kept his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed as if he were meditating on the spot.

The woman wrapped her arm around Ichigo's neck and signalled him with a nudge to his shoulder to let her sit on his lap, but the stoic one was not to be moved. He didn't flinch even as the stunned woman strolled behind him and ensnared her arms around his neck as an alternative for not resting on his lap.

"Business. Ichigo. Kurosaki." Ichigo summarized. The girl almost felt put off how emotionless the man sounded.

"A mission to capture a fugitive from another village whom was last sighted in Kaminari no Kuni." Kakashi summarized completely, missing the smirk that crossed the blue haired girl's face as she noticed his Leaf headband concealing his left eye as she placed his and Ichigo's teas in front of them.

"Much obliged." Kakashi thanked her, not looking at his tea to know it was there as he heard the small thud it made as he continued to enjoy the pictures of his book, getting slightly turned on by it.

"The pleasure was all mine." The blue haired woman identified as Ringo smiled malevolently at the boy, getting stern looks from her 'sisters' that made her roll her eyes before she addressed Ichigo, "I take it you two must be high up on the foo-." The other girls sharply moved their index fingers cross their throats, telling Ringo to knock it off, "I mean you big boys must be very strong to get a mission where only the two of you are required for it. I heard ninjas operate in groups of four."

"That's true to an extent." Kakashi spoke up, prompting himself to explain how the system worked in a ninja village to the ignorant woman, "But only when a ninja who's gained the rank of Jonin and has gotten himself three little cute genin to train operate in groups of four. Most of the time ninjas work in trios after one if not all of the genin-ninjas advance to the rank of chunin after impressing their kage in the chunin exams with their tactical and leadership-skills." The masked-boy casted a look to Ichigo as if to say he'd explained that for his own benefit too.

Ichigo cracked open an eye to let Kakashi know he appreciated the info the kid had given him.

"Wow…" The dark haired brown girl drawled out dreamily, stars in her eyes, "I'm guessing you must be jonin-ranked among your village sir with that big sword you carry there."

"I have no rank." Ichigo said, his eye shutting again while the women blinked in a puzzled manner.

"What the heck do you mean by that… sir?" Ringo questioned.

"I am not affiliated with Konoha. This mission is not a ninja related one, but a ronin one." Ichigo murmured. The women's eyes all widened as most gained sated smirks on their faces and began rubbing their hands together.

The one with the green hair rubbed her chin as if she'd a beard, 'Interesting. So the boy's not officially apart of Konoha's forces. Perhaps this'll be easier than we thought.' The 'woman' decided to dig a little deeper into this, speaking up loud enough for everyone to hear her, "So, whatcha doing in Konoha? I take it you've been there a while if you've settled down and have a son already."

'What the hell are you playing at old man Kenji?!' Ringo wildly asked herself, wanting to pull out her hair while finding it increasingly difficult to sustain her sweet persona.

'No. A handsome man like this can't have a woman! He must be mine.' The dark haired girl mused selfishly, possessively taking in Ichigo's scent with her arms still around the stoic one's neck, 'C'mon! C'mon! C'mon! Get turned on! Get miffed! Get mad! ANYTHING! DON'T JUST SIT THERE YOU EMOTIONLESS FREAK!'

"I'm a wandering samurai." Ichigo's voice broke the woman from her thoughts.

'Bingo! This could be our lucky day! We could be bringing home a samurai and an Uzumaki! Onoki-sama'll have to praise us! He'll just have to!' One of the light brown haired girls squeaked in her mind. The other girls were all thinking around the same the lines.

"Ah. So Tetsu no Kuni appears to be losing some of their solders, do they?" The green haired girl blurted out before realizing she may have blown their cover as the other girls turned to her with panic written all over their faces, "I mean I've heard about that place from some respectable ninja, yes I did."

The others sighed in relief as Kakashi grinned a little smugly while flipping a page of his little orange book.

'It seems like their covers are almost blown. I wonder how Ichigo-san'll fair against them. Perhaps I might hang back and observe the man for myself, see what he's made out of. After all Hokage-sama did say he was looking to ally Ichigo with Konoha.' The boy wonder mused.

Ichigo unfolded his arms, one reaching out for his tea cup, gripping it, and lifting it up to his mouth while the girls eagerly anticipated the results of Ichigo's first sip while the divine shinigami stared thoughtfully at the green tea, 'What do you think old man?'

"Do you mean of the women or the tea? Because I believe these females are the ones that were following you and that boy earlier, they have the same reiatsu signatures. The tea, however, I'm not so sure. It looks pretty ordinary," Zangetsu summarized.

'The hollow, it'll devour it,' Ichigo replied to his zanpakuto's spirit, hearing a frustrated groan come from the devilish being of which he preferred to in his inner monologue. 'Get to work.' Ichigo knew it was listening. His voice held no pity for it.

"Yeah. Yeah. I hear ya King." The Hollow bitched before suddenly feeling like a boss as Ichigo closed his eyes so no one would see the shift in colour from his usual hazel hued eyes to the yellow ones with black sclera. The hollow tilted Ichigo's head back and brought the tea cup to Ichigo's lips, sipping on the warm tea that tasted a little salty, "Ack. A little on the salty side but it's definitely has a poisonous feel to it."

"Well that should settle it then right Ichigo? These women are obviously the ten reiatsu signatures you picked up earlier, not to mention they don't appear to be their selves, talking in one accent before quickly switching to another. My guess would be that this was all a ploy to lure you and the boy in here and drink their poisonous tea. Ninjas are not exactly the honest type I believe." Zangetsu surmised and Ichigo grunted affirmatively.

"So these sluts are, and I quote, 'already dead' then, hey King?" The Hollow questioned, grinning malevolently as it remembered its jailor brutally slaughtering that dumb man who was stupid enough to challenge Ichigo. Ichigo let out another grunt of confirmation that got The Hollow bouncing up and down joyously, "Oh right! Finally, some action's about to start! I can't wait! I just wish you'd let me out for the party so I can devour every last one of those slutty ladies! After all you can never be too full! Am I right lads, huh?"

'Good. He's drank the tea. Old man Kasuga said the poison will work in five minutes. Hopefully by then that kid would've drunken his tea as well. Then it's smooth coasting from there.' One of the light brown haired girls thought to herself.

The green haired lady grew a little incredulous of Kakashi and Ichigo, not fully being able to believe that the two haven't covered them as of yet but was still thankful they hadn't, "I also heard that Konohagakure had a good relationship with Uzushiogakure before the latter met an unfortunate end."

Mentally, Ichigo half pushed himself into the driving seat that was his body, making the hollow grumble how rude it was of him to forcefully shove a partnership on it. Ichigo ignored it as something of significance piqued his curiosity, "Uzushiogakure." That village reminded Ichigo a lot of the Uzumaki-clan since both names meant water in some way, "That's where the Uzumaki clan hails from, does it not?"

Ringo looked at Ichigo as if he were some alien from a celestial dimension, "Where have you been sir? That poor village got gangbanged and eradicated during the Shinobi War Eras! Every last sucker including the Uzumaki clan got wiped out in a blur, barring a few lucky survivors." Kakashi glanced at the girl interestedly, noticing the 180 change in her personality while the other girls sighed as if they had already accepted this to happen as a one hundred per-cent fact.

Ichigo, however, fully shoved the hollow out of the driver's seat, sending it spiralling to the abyss of his mind while bitching how it shouldn't be like this.

Everyone present in the room flinched barring Ichigo at the noise of shattering glass, the brown haired girl instantly moving away from Ichigo with a surprised scream coming from her lips while the others sweated at the shocked-faced celestial one, not expecting him to react that way after a period of time.

'Shit! It didn't work!' Ringo cussed.

'Guess it's time for a fight then eh.' One of the brown haired girls thought with an easy-going smile on her face.

'This was inevitable. We should've foreseen this coming.' One of the more intelligent light brown haired girls thought, rubbing her wrists in preparation for a battle to commence.

'Alrighty I've been waiting for a fight for weeks now! Bring it on!' Another light brown haired girl squeaked in her mind in an excited manner.

'Maybe all hope's not lost. If we explain our motives he could be willing to join our side. Besides, judging by the look on his face I would surmise he's somewhat close to a member of the Uzumaki clan in some-way. He couldn't be an Uzumaki since that clan's members were known for their distinctive red hairs,' The green haired girl concluded.

"Uzumaki-clan." The hybrid muttered, normal hazel eyes wide to depict his great surprise at finding out the chirpy woman who took him in was from a clan on the verge of extinction no less, "No more?"

The ladies all gave him looks of confusion as they surmised that he was effected by that 'tea' in some way, "Yes. Barring a few, the Uzumaki-clan is virtually no more." The green haired lady explained to Ichigo, receiving a grunt from him before he regained his zombie-like look on his face, his stoic persona returning once again, "I take it you're close to a surviving member of said clan."

"Kushina…" Ichigo mumbled aloud, making disappointment appear on the dark brown haired girl's face as she thought that was Ichigo's wife. 'I see now. You took me in… because you were lonely, were you not Kushina?' Ichigo could relate to that because he himself had felt alone in this world. It kept him awake many nights chained up in that cold torture chamber, knowing he was safely concealed in a ninja's village while his family and friends were either being taken to the slaughter-house to be massacred or taken to the slaughter-house to work as slaves for the madman Sosuke Aizen.

And it was all because of him!

He failed them!

His one job, to protect, and Ichigo couldn't even do that right.

'Kushina's a strong one.' Ichigo realized. The red haired beauty remained so cheerful and happy in despite of the many ghosts that haunted her, "Time to go now."

"Maa. I haven't even drunk my tea yet." Kakashi faked disappointment as Ichigo stood up from his seat amidst other faked disappointments at the duo's department.

"Awww. You're leaving already?" The dark brown haired girl asked in faked cuteness, 'Good. Go back to that slut queen then bastard! And why you're at it bring her and your fine ass to Iwagakure no Sato to be a part of our troops!'

"Indeed." Ichigo confirmed, looking at Kakashi as the masked-boy stood up and pushed his tea cup away from him, "Kakashi… go. I'll clean up. I'll catch up to you later."

"Are you sure about that Ichigo-san?" Kakashi asked, casting looks at the females that immediately got them to stiffen up, "It sure looks like a lot of cleaning up to do."

"Positive." Ichigo confirmed.

"Alright then, if you say so. You did after all 'clean up' pretty well in the Uchiha-clan's compound. You should do well here too. I'll be waiting for you down the road." Kakashi gave one last eye-smile to Ichigo before quickly propping his book underneath his chin to create a set of hand-signs invisible to the normal human-eye before vanishing in a puff of smoke with leaves shrouding it.

"Did he just tell his son to leave the building while he fights us on his own?" Hachirou asked in a whisper of a voice.

"It makes sense. Fathers usually are protective of their sons." Takashi responded to his brother, still henged in his pink clad girl-form.

"Why did you order your cute little son to leave you here by yourself, sir?" The dark brown haired lady asked. She was generally curious and wanted to know the answer before she dropped the façade.

Ichigo's hand touched the top part of his zanpakuto, "I find it redundant to tell you that."

"How come?"

"…Because you're already dead."

This statement caused the 'females' to immediate stiffen their postures, "What the hell do you mean by that!" Ringo asked heatedly, her true colours surfacing, "Hey, I'm talking to yo-. What? Where'd the hell did that guy go?"

A puff of smoke occur from the dark brown haired girl and when it faded away it revealed a lanky man clad in light red ninja garbs with a pink flower-patterned suit of armour around the chest area, a light red mask covering his shocked face and a headband with a insignia for Iwagakure no Sato engraved into the template area tied around his forehead.

The suit of armour had a smudge of blood on the peck area or somewhere around that area.

The nine henged ninjas immediately huddled around their shocked faced comrade while shifting their heads from side to side with caution, "It doesn't make any sense! One minute the guy was there, and the next second he wasn't!" Benjirou squeaked, dropping his henge to reveal a person clad in dark red ninja garbs with dark red armour around his chest area. A red headband with a double rock insignia engraved into the template area was also tied around his forehead which was covered by a red mask over his face that only left his cerulean blue eyes on show.

All of his brothers took that moment to drop their henges to reveal similar attires to that of their brother.

"He couldn't have gotten far. I hardly doubt he would tell Kasuga he was dead just to run off at the first chance he had." Takashi said, "But again, he could've used our confusion to make his escape. It would've been ten on one otherwise."

"God! How could we let that masked boy go like that? We're so stupid!" Sanjirou grumbled.

"Now, now, perhaps all hope's not lost. He couldn't have gotten far, right Kasuga?" The laid back Shu asked his brother, getting no response from him, "Right?" He turned to his brother to see him holding the part of his chest where his heart was while breathing hollowly.

"B-Brothers…" Kasuga stammered, striking concern on his brothers' faces, "H-He t-took i-it."

"What? What did that man take from you Kasuga?" Kenji asked, stepping towards his brother and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"M-my…" Blood spewed forth from Kasuga's mouth, getting expressions of astonishment to appear all over his brothers' faces as they fretted over him.

"What's happening to you? What'd that man do to you?" Benjirou asked loudly, panicking as he watched his older brother die before him.

"He…" He could say no more as the light in his eyes were switched off, all of his brothers' eyes widening as Kenji caught him and gasped hugely once Kasuga's hand fell from his chest to reveal a bloody smear shaped hole where the heart should be.

"BROTHER!" They shouted.

Like Ichigo said, she-. He was already dead.


End file.
